Books are forever! When I say that, I literally mean it. We can’t forget about books from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and even the early 2000s. Backlist books are still around and can shine light on our thirsty TBRs. I describe our TBRs as thirsty because they contain nothing more than the newest books of the year. Primary backlist works which are left off our TBRs each year contribute to these books being forgotten and in some cases not being republished so that we can find and eventually read them.
Last year I had the pleasure of reading two novels by Diane McKinney-Whetstone that were lovely discoveries from my shelves.
😉 Both were picked out of my book cart. My husband chooses 12 books from my bookshelves, wraps them in newspaper, and puts them in my Ikea Raskog. I randomly chose Leaving Cecil Street and later on in the year Lazaretto. Both were excellent discovery novels for me. I kept asking myself what took me so long to get to her books. This month I happily finished reading a third book from McKinney-Whetstone’s backlist called Tumbling.
The novel is set in 1940s – 1950s Philadelphia. (Her books are often set in Philadelphia) It opens with us following the main characters, Noon and Herbie. They are married and love each other very much, but have not been able to consummate their marriage. This leads Herbie to look for sex outside of their marriage. Enter Ethel, she’s a sultry night club singer who has caught Herbie’s eye, however Ethel doesn’t like to be tied down. She’s an independent woman who has no intention of getting into a serious relationship. Herbie on the other hand clings to his physical relationship with Ethel to balance what is missing with his marriage to Noon. Noon is a God-fearing church woman. She’s pretty, soft spoken, and nice, but she carries a dark secret that has been effecting her marriage to Herbie, although she deeply desires to be a mother. One night Herbie returns home from work and finds a baby wrapped up in a box on the porch in front of his door.
Tumbling is McKinney-Whetstone’s debut novel. It’s a really good book despite it feeling like she threw every twist and turn she could at the story line, which in my opinion is often a characteristic of debut novels. There is so much going on in the storyline making the novel dense with third person descriptions and not a lot of dialogue. The themes that are covered make the novel unforgettable. McKinney-Whetstone covers family, mental illness, and sexual abuse. Generational wealth is the theme that was covered in a way to help the reader become more acquainted with this close-knit black community. The secondary characters stand out just as much as the principal ones even when some of them only show up maybe twice throughout the story. They remain memorable and well fleshed out, such as the characters of Dottie, Willie Mann, and Jeanie.
Separated into four parts with about 7-8 Chapters in each one, you’ll be enticed into wanting to know what is going to happen to Noon, Herbie, Ethel, and the others. You’re probably wondering why the book is called Tumbling. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that. That would be spoiling everything. Just remember that this book feels for the most part like real life despite a few places here and there. It regrettably comes to a screeching halt. That ending really should have been finessed a little better. In spite of that, I still give it a rating of 4 stars because it kept me reading and entertained. Now that I’ve finished Tumbling, I’m looking forward to reading the rest of her backlist: Tempest Rising (1998), Trading Dreams at Midnight (2008), Blue Dancing (1999), Philadelphia Blues (1998), and Our Gen (2022). I also just found out she will be releasing a new novel on August 12, 2025 called Family Threads. I wasn’t able to find any blurbs about it so I guess we’ll have to wait until we get a little closer to the release date. It’s got family in the title so I’m all in!
Tumbling, 340 pages, Scribner Paperback Fiction (1996)
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Nice to see a blog review from you up here Didi. Still here doing the same same.
It’s great to be back. You’ll definitely see more of me up here.