Hush Now by L. A. Green

Publisher/Date: Dog Ear Publishing, LLC, Nov. 2012
Genre(s):  Romance, Historical Fiction
Pages:  216
Website:  http://www.hushnowbook.com

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Right now, I’m fighting the urge to sing “Go Down Moses” in honor of HUSH NOW.

Here you have two women – one a white slave owner’s daughter, the other a house slave – who fall in love but can’t be openly together because of their stations in life. Author L.A. Banks presents Rebecca Montgomery and Ruth’s star-crossed love story, and the vivid emotions this kind of affection creates.

Written with spunk and a sense of humor, Hush Now is the novel about love that speaks only in whispers and late-night Shakespeare sessions. Their attraction blossoms through their love of literature, with Rebecca happily discovering that Ruth was taught to read, a secret they both hold close. After all, Rebecca’s plantation-owning father, Grafton, is generous to his workers but recognizes that “a happy slave is money in the pocket.” She believes her father wouldn’t understand the love she has for Ruth.

Ruth has to protect herself, as well. The society she inhabits looks down on her simply because of her skin color. The consequences of loving Rebecca would be far worse for her than owner. But the closeness they feel can’t be helped. How can they ever be together when the world tells them they can’t?

A combined effort by Bonnie Lee Harrison and Gleycia Green, Hush Now is a moving story, and the full cast adds a life to this tale. But make no mistake: L. A. Green’s Hush Now will anger, frighten and enlighten you. Reading it, I felt moved by Rebecca and Ruth, but more so connected with Ruth and her dilemma. The way she was treated by some didn’t sit well with me, but with a story about blacks enslaved for monetary gain, it shouldn’t. It should make you wistful.

It also should make you believe in love – and embracing love in spite of.

Reviewed April 2013

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