Music lovers will particularly enjoy this coming of age New
Adult story. I don't play an instrument, but if I substitute
horses for music, I can easily identify with the young lady
telling her story of the end of school and the start of
college. THOSE BLACK WINGS by Melinda Cordell follows Kay
Bachmann from being
an outsider in her class with a silent crush on Wyatt, the
handsome lad who works in the camping store, through her
decision to change her life in college.
New outgoing personality, new friends, new classes, and her
own room. What could seem more positive? Kay feels she is
escaping the poisons and close confines of her troubled
family, while still pursuing the love of music instilled in
her by her bluesman grandfather. Carter, the first college
guy to show a real interest in her, takes different courses
and doesn't play music, too caught up in the torn-apart
family that gives him an open credit card limit. But Carter
recognises that Kay is a lively and loyal girl, and he
takes steps to ensure that she will never leave him.
Mature young adults and new adults can learn a lot from
this dark romance, in which we are invited to ogle a
difficult situation to gain a better understanding of the
matter, and to see how many other people experience it as
well. In real life, either a boy or a girl can be
controlling or manipulative, but a boy in a damaging
relationship seems to find it easier to move on,
while less
likely to experience physical danger than a girl.
I greatly admire the subtle way that Melinda Cordell has
woven the backstory of Kay's family into the girl's present
and possible future. We can ask if we are doomed to repeat
family cycles through the generations, and whether changing
attitudes and the availability of information and
communication now enable young people to break free. Kay
should be making lots of friends, enjoying college and her
music, and experiencing all life has to offer. Instead she
finds herself drawn into a web of emotional stickiness and
stressfulness, facing huge issues that should not be a part
of any normal relationship. Melinda Cordell who lives in
Missouri, has previously written children's books and
gardening advice. She says she felt compelled to write this
cautionary tale after real-life experiences. THOSE BLACK
WINGS packs a powerful punch. I would strongly recommend it
to girls at this stage of life.
Kay Bachmann leaps into her freshman year of college, eager
to start fresh and be the girl she’s always wanted to be.
She meets Carter, who falls for her like a skydiver with a
busted parachute. He sweeps her away in a whirlwind romance,
and before Kay can think straight, they’re going on dates.
But when Kay discovers a family secret, she starts looking
at the relationship in a whole new light. And it's not pretty.
Then she meets her old friend Wyatt again – who she’s loved
desperately for so long. Kay tries to break free of Carter,
but he raises the emotional ante and attempts suicide right
in front of her. That act pulls her right back to his side.
Kay knows she cannot stay with Carter. She knows that his
next attempt may be fatal. But she wants, above all, to live
her life on her own terms – not on somebody else’s.
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