Bended Knees Review

Bended Knees
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This anthology consists of circumstantial prayer beyond the requirement that "men should always pray" as there are things beyond the status quo or routine for which divine guidance should be sought.
I found two of the seven stories to be of exceptional quality, Rickey Teems II's "Soldier Surrendered" and Keshia Dawn's "Baby Boy," for the strength of development of plot and unequaled perspective.
"Baby Boy" is told from the perspective of a child trying to meander, adapt and negotiate his reality with some of the fallacies of error, immaturity and dependency of a child learning his environment, yet growing in the awareness of self. The author did an excellent job of integrating mystery with empathy and elicits supplication from the reader to bend their knees for a person such as Baby Boy.
"Soldier Surrendered" brings home the story of war undeclared at home being a greater foe than the military wars of our times and examines greater love has no man than this that he lays down his life for his friend. Although the storyline involves familial love, we are often called to war to intervene in the courses chosen by others at the possible ultimate cost to ourselves. This author exhorts the issue of caring and the degrees of it. His ending is surreal.
So much better are the two of these than the other five in the anthology that they made the remainder seem contrived fantasy.
Shelia Lipsey's "Against the Grain" and Tifany Jones' "A House Divided" included serious issues - interracial dating and adapting to the loss of parents. However, neither delivered on the strength of their titles in development of characters nor the tone of their sundry events.
Donna Deloney's "Joy's Gift" addresses the issue of organ donation, which is an under represented perspective in communities of color and therefore interesting, but the storyline falls below the concept of bended knees as a theme.
Kia Stokes' "Mister, Are You My Daddy" and Brian Smith's "Forgiveness" are attempts to paint the positive and bright male perspective on parenting. Although the voice of black authors need to be strengthened here and encouraged, the focus of the stories seem lackluster and end up gender bashing to drive home a point. Both feature males who want to be fathers at the hands of dishonorable women (a cheating wife and a lying one).
I enjoyed the theme and wished that the overall content of this anthology would have been stronger. There were a few editing issues also. The strength of two of seven stories makes "Bended Knees" an okay read but not one I would readily recommend.
Reviewed by: Gail


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