Black Press Magazine.com presents Summer Interns' Blog

Book Review: Mighty Love lacks mighty punch

by Natalie Gilmore
Black Press Magazine Editorial Intern

Washington, DC -- June 29, 2006 -- (BlackPressMagazine.com) There are those times when we want to come home and sink into a deep, relaxing relatable book. Most readers want their reads to be right in the middle; none of that exhausting writer's jargon or none of that elementary syntax. Readers just want to be comfortable and gain something from the experience. Unfortunately, Anita Doreen Diggs' debut novel, “A Mighty Love,” gets the short end of the stick.

The underlying premise of the tale is cliché. There's a perfect relationship between main characters Adrienne and Mel Jordan. They basked in a three year union that many married couples wish for. Mel abandoned his pimp-like behavior to settle down with the woman of his dreams and Adrienne left behind the idea of one day becoming a jazz singer to take care for their beautiful baby, Delilah. Neither of them had any regrets of the sacrifices they made.

Their thriving relationship soon turns tragic when their baby dies in a fire which Adrienne blames on her spouse. The death of the baby was the most shocking and heart grabbing piece of the story but in order for this novel to receive an A plus, Diggs could have added more ‘flesh to the skeleton.'

There's a lot missing in this attempted drama. To begin, the scenes are rushed and bleed into one another. The chapters seemed incomplete, leaving the reader wondering, "how and why did this happen?” Forcing the reader to want more is good in some cases, but Diggs fails to deliver.

Dialog lacks realism

Nothing about the dialogue or scenery convinced me that the setting was in New York City and this comes as a surprise because Diggs is from New York. If Diggs had put less into narration and indulged more in dialogue, it would have helped out with the characterization.

The dialogue was robotic and the few metaphors that were used were extremely cliché, such as when Mel commented on Adrienne's subtle refusal to make love in chapter six, “you're cold as ice.” This type of writing was seen throughout the entire novel and pushed the book more towards reading a play (a Madea's play), which in turn took away from the reality of the characters.

“A Mighty Love” lacked visual sensation as well. Things, people and places were briefly described and lacked creativity. Diggs kept mostly everything simple and left nothing to the surprise of the reader.

This book definitely needs more originality and was not a voluntary page-turner. Overall, this fiction needs more depth.

Natalie Gilmore is an editorial intern for Black Press Magazine's Summer internship program. She is a senior majoring in Journalism at Austin Prey University and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.