Original Love
Art/Life imitating Art/Life?
Original Love is at its core, a story of love lost and found. It centers on Peter and Ebony and follows them from adolescence to adulthood. The additional elements of time, race, and family are added to provide conflict along the way. Peter is a middle aged author who has made his mark on the literary world by publishing two popular novels under the pseudonym of a black woman named Desiree. Ironically, it is his pseudonym, Desiree, who serves as both his muse and his impediment. As his muse and the image of his first and only love, it has brought him commercial success but personal failure in the dissolution of his marriage. As his impediment, it keeps him from publishing a novel under his own name, which his publisher is loathe to allow him to do. After wrestling with writer’s block, he flees to New York to recover personally and professionally. Part of his recovery includes the search for his first love, Ebony, the woman he has never gotten over. When he finally does find her, he is able to face the demons of his past, including a disapproving father along with the daughter that he never knew existed and move forward with the life and family he always dreamed of.
The author has incorporated a story within a story, paralleling the progression of Peter’s emerging novel with his search for Ebony. Although the author has used different typefaces to distinguish between the two, at times the storylines and even the characters tend to get somewhat jumbled. The overall theme seems to be that his main character is actually his embodiment of the image foremost in his mind, namely Ebony, and he seems to be trying to fuse Ebony, his main character, and his muse into one person. This is an ambitious approach, and the author is somewhat successful as the book progresses. However, in the beginning, these three separate entities have a tendency to bleed into each other.
Interracial romance novels are an up-and-coming genre of their own. They range the gamut (like any romance novel) from realistic to “over-the-top”. IR novels, by definition use race as an element, but it may be as prominent or secondary as the author wishes. Although Original Love was presented as an interracial romance, I had a difficult time discerning the impact of race. While Peter’s father was presented as a racist, I found his actions tending less towards racist behavior, and more towards psychotic behavior. Although Peter and Ebony seem to enjoy each other, I frankly never understood the motivations of either one, either his fascination with her or her long-suffering with him. One of my pet peeves about IR novels is a tendency of some towards fetishism. Some women are athletic and sexual beings. Some of those women happen to be black. The two are only related by coincidence. Some men are passive aggressive with painful memories. Some of those men happen to be white. The author’s attempt to link personality traits to skin color appear to be somewhat disconnected. I can appreciate a book about different people which attempts to do more than simply take a white couple and dip one (or both) in chocolate. I can also appreciate an author’s attempt to infuse his characters with vivid personalities. However, it is a very narrow line that can be difficult to navigate between that and sliding into racial stereotypes.
Overall, I found the novel to be an entertaining read.
Original Love
J.J. Murray
ISBN: 0758211643
Kensington Publishing
November 2005
Reviewed By: Angela Hailey, Black Butterfly Review