WHATEVER GETS YOU THROUGH THE NIGHT is a poignant tale
about a young woman who rises above modest beginnings yet
remains tethered to the less than desirable environment
she's left behind.
As with many young women, Bari Jordan's big heart with its
oversized capacity for love and compassion blinds her to
the behaviors, secrets, and petty jealousies that swirl
about and eventually threaten her very existence.
At a high school party, Bari meets Earl Jordan. She
graduates, goes on to college, and marries Earl. Bari
secures a great job, has good friends, and enjoys a
supportive family. But when problems begin to arise in
her marriage, Bari isn't sure what to do. She digs in her
heels and tries her best to make a go of the relationship,
even turning to a spiritualist for assistance. Except
Bari doesn't get the help she needs and she hides her
feelings and eventual torment from those who care the most
and can help her best.
There are some aspects about the story that I could easily
describe as clichéd like the college-educated African-
American woman whose income outstrips that of her
uneducated husband or the uneducated man whose life
spirals out of control due to the pull of illegal drugs
and alcohol. But the writing is fresh and touching. It
makes the reader want to like Earl even as his behavior
and mental state deteriorate, placing Bari's life in
jeopardy.
The ending felt like the story stopped abruptly, and on a
melancholy note at that, rather than reaching a
conclusion. Bari recognizes her need to examine her
choices but readers don't get to see the benefit of that
examination. A sequel is in the works, perhaps?
Overall, WHATEVER GETS YOU THROUGH THE NIGHT was an
enjoyable read and an impressive debut from author Teri
Denine.
At 26, newlywed Bari Jordan has achieved more than most
women her age, especially when she lands a highly-coveted
position as an advertising executive at one of New York
City's top companies. But maintaining such an important
position requires long hours and lots of time away from her
perfect husband Earl and their love nest. Her high school
sweetheart is is having trouble of his own working for his
father at their family-owned paper mill and struggling with
unresolved family problems that have tormented him since
childhood.
With no one at home to talk to and Bari too busy climbing
the corporate ladder of success, Earl begins to feel alone.
Not to mention his ego is challenged when he loses his job
and Bari becomes the sole breadwinner.
After Earl is lured into an underground world of deception,
he emerges as a dark, sinister stranger to Bari--terrorizing
her and spiraling their relationship into an emotional
abyss. With Bari's life hanging in the balance, she turns to
a Jamaican spiritualist for help. But will the spiritualist
and the talisman that her grandmother handed down to her be
enough to save her from a path where even angels would fear
to tread?
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