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News
- Too Beautiful To Die
“More than just a mystery. Gives life and depth to Brooklyn, a voice
to Caribbean rhythms and migration. Brings energy and vitality to the
African-American mystery genre.”
—Eleanor Taylor Bland, author of Windy City
Dying
“Glenville Lovell’s taut, action-filled mystery Too Beautiful
To Die is one of those rare page-turners with emotional grip and lyrical
range. The sharp dialogue and its darkly charismatic hero will be a treat
to readers looking for something new from a fresh voice. Smart, vivid,
and beautifully crafted, it will keep readers guessing until the end.”
—Tananarive Due, author of My Soul to Keep
and The Living Blood
“Lovell has concocted a literate mystery that reminds the reader
of the best of Cain, Hammett, Chandler and James Lee Burke, sleuthing
rendered with wit, imagination and a Caribbean flair.”
—Black Issues Book Review
“...this is stylish entertainment, featuring a vulnerable protagonist
with a volatile temper and a tortured personal life.”
—Booklist
"Too Beautiful to Die is an exciting, action-packed,
visually descriptive, fast-moving, and witty tale that kept me on the
edge of my seat."
—Tee C. Royal, Founder of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewer
Advance
Praise for
Too Beautiful to Die
News - Song of Night
“Since women got to know each other so well during
the women’s movement, it’s rare that a male author can write
a female character well enough to convince female readers. . . But Glenville
Lovell does the finest job of getting inside a woman’s psyche since
Roddy Doyle wrote The Woman Who Walked into Doors. . .similar in sophisticated
execution to works by Morrison and Nabokov.”
—The Washington Post
Glenville Lovell’s darkly powerful second novel .
. .[is] as compromisingly
honest as Native Son, Richard Wright’s memorable account of American
blacks in the 1930s—and it deserves attention for the same reasons.”
—Islands Magazine
“A haunting Greek tragedy, transplanted in a Barbados
fishing village. . . Song of Night has the intimacy of a folktale and
the pacing of drama.”
—The Baltimore Sun
“Song of Night is a complex, emotional story that
soars because of the power of Lovell’s storytelling.”
—Emerge
“This is a complex novel by a talented writer who
has a strong Caribbean
voice.”
—Booklist
“Lovell’s mastery of language and his compassion
for all his characters
contribute to a moving and tragic story.”
—Library Journal
News - Fire in the Canes
"Caribbean stories are often filled with magic and
mysticism. Glenville
Lovell immerses readers in all these elements in his debut novel, Fire
in
the Canes. Lovell brings to life the sleepy West Indian village of Monkey
Road, fifty years after the end of slavery. Peata, a sensual and fun-loving
woman, arrives with her beautiful teen-age daughter, Midra, which
starts a chain of events that forever changes their lives and those of
the
village. . . Lovell spins an interesting story, one that will make you
think
about how one incident can change the future."
-USA Today
"Snuggle up in your most comfortable spot when you
start reading Fire
in the Canes. You soon will be swept away by the magic of Glenville
Lovell's prose as he takes you on a journey to a fictional West Indian
island at the turn of the century. The author tells his tale with power
and
elegance, enthralling readers in much the same way that his protagonist,
Prince Johnson, mesmerizes the other characters in the book. . . Lovell
expertly weaves a love story, mystery, and historical novel in an exotic
blend that includes tales from the oral tradition of Barbados."
-Emerge
"[A] notable debut. . .richly descriptive. . .it promises
a bright
literary future for the author."
-Publishers Weekly
"Lovell's mythic story is a treat to the ear, from the names of the
local
trees (shack-shack, flamboyant, mile) to the character's lingering musical
speech."
-The New Yorker
"[An] impressive first novel . . .a skeptical, even
ironical, narrative voice.
Mr. Lovell has a sharp eye for the extraordinary tropical landscape and
the eccentricities of his characters."
-The New York Times Book Review
"A spirited tale of post-slavery West Indies . . .
an effective evocation of
lush tropical nights . . . a promising debut."
-Kirkus Reviews
"A fascinating epic, full of lively characters, Caribbean
history and
African spiritualism."
-IFA News
"First novelist Lovell joins the ranks of such writers
of magic realism as
Alejo Carpentier with this novel . . . Lovell's story rushes onward at
full
speed, and it is difficult to separate magic from reality, which adds
even
more to the intrigue of this brilliantly crafted tale. Highly
recommended."
-Library Journal
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