An unflinching study of urban decay revealed through the end-days of a make shift family. The story is told through the eyes of 7-year-old Tina and her mother Earnestine. Tina, the third of five children, is a sensitive girl victimized by a stepfather addicted to cruelty and neglected by a mother addicted to heroin. Earnestine is a tortured soul who in spite of her drug addiction and poor taste in men, fights to keep her family together. The story of loss, shame and ultimately compassion is written in terse prose, reflecting the fragmented era in which the story is set - the late 1960's.

Tina never disintegrates into hatred and her messages of renewal and hope bring the salvation to the story that she ultimately herself receives.

Its readability, depth and dialog-driven character interaction makes it fast paced. Daughter Denied captures the essence of a dysfunctional urban family and pulls no punches while at the same time providing the reader with humorous and light moments characteristic of the climate of the 60's which often vacillated from turbulent to joyous.

"Daughter Denied" has been listed as one of the top 50 fiction books for 2008 by Conversations Book Club!!!!!
Conversations' Top 50 Fiction Titles of 2008
http://readingmylips.blogspot.com/2008/10/conversations-presents-its-top-50.html

Have you ever wanted to write a novel?

Alretha Thomas is here to get you started. Join her "Let's Write a Novel Workshop." For groups of 20 or more aged 16 and up Alretha is offering a complete 4-hour workshop FREE!!!! For more information Call 626-858-1907.