Hold You Down
A Novel
-
-
4.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- £8.99
Publisher Description
Hold You Down is an edgy novel from rising star Tracy Brown about the perils of love and the ties that bind…
New York City. Late 1980s to early 1990s.
Mercy and Lenox Howard have always only had each other. Growing up on the mean streets of Harlem with an absentee mother meant that they had to have each other's backs. Now young, smart mothers they are determined to survive in New York City while raising their two sons, who have bright futures ahead of them.
Mercy is the quiet, straight laced hospital administrator, struggling to make ends meet. At night and on weekends, she pours her heart into her cooking and her dream of owning her own restaurant. Lenox is the diva, the wild child, looking for excitement and her big come up in life and love. Their boys, Deon and Judah, have been raised more like brothers than cousins, forging a bond that is unbreakable.
When Lenox heads down a path that she believes will bring success and power, it changes the entire course of her life and her family’s life forever. As a result of their mother’s choices, cousins Deon and Judah soon find themselves in uncharted territory.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Two sisters struggle to raise their sons as single mothers on Staten Island during the 1980s crack epidemic in this tragic and gritty outing from Brown (Single Black Female). Mercy Howard and her son, Judah, play by the rules, while Mercy's sister, Lenox, and Lenox's son, Deon, are risk-takers. Despite their differences, however, the families could not be closer. Mercy and Lenox both have big dreams for their future, but while Mercy chooses hard work, Lenox takes the first shortcut she sees, getting involved in cooking crack cocaine. She naively believes she can keep her roles as mother and drug dealer separate—right up until her unexpected death. Mercy's left to raise Deon, who begins to act out in his grief, and his constant trouble with the law takes a toll on Mercy's health and drives a wedge between him and Judah. Then, when Deon is attacked, Judah steps in to help him, but the consequences of his actions forever change their lives. Brown's raw if slightly melodramatic depiction of the effect of the drug trade on a family of strivers offers heartbreak and hope in equal measure. Readers should prepare for tears.
