The Sweethearts of Soul - Hardcover

Lambright, Evelyn 'Slim'

3.71

35 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060184752 ISBN 13: 9780060184759

Publisher: Harper, 2004

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The author of the critically acclaimed novel The Justus Girls spins a lively, outrageous tale about a girl singing group that hits the heights in the heyday of rock and roll, and then comes shockingly down to earth.

Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting the legendary Sweethearts of Soul ...

At long last, the Rock and Soul Foundation is honoring Ruth Thomas, Adeline Lights, Venus Jones, and Brenda Wade with the Pioneer Award and a place in its hall of fame. When music reporter Legs Diamond gets the assignment to do an in-depth story on the women, what a tale she hears, from their start singing gospel to their fame and fortune in the 1960s.

When the glory days ended, the lives of these close-knit women went in very different directions. Searching for the past, Legs discovers a revealing present: Venus is a single mom struggling to run her own business and to raise a pregnant teenager. Ruthie tends bar when she's not playing gigs or keeping tabs on her free-spirited daughter. Addie is a real estate queen and stays busy watching her son deal with the success of being a rising rap star. And Brenda, aka Birdie, well, she has become something of a mystery and the most difficult for Legs to reach.

With a little help from Legs, and a trip down memory lane that unveils dark secrets and fallen friendships, the women soon discover that they need one another now just as much as when they were young stars on the rise.

The Sweethearts of Soul is a sassy, big-hearted, and irresistible story that will make you laugh and cry, and, most of all, love every one of these unforgettable women.

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About the Author:

Evelyn "Slim" Lambright, in her own words, says, "I've been a waitress, a bartender, a go-go-dancer, a model, a singer, and a numbers runner, among other things, and am now employed freelance, but the less said about that, the better." She is the author of The Justus Girls, and she lives in Philadelphia.

From Publishers Weekly:

Bass player Barton Coleman's death under mysterious circumstances at a New Jersey motel sparks a search for the true story behind the Philadelphia-based 1960s singing group SOS, the Sweethearts of Soul, in Lambright's light, heartwarming second novel (after 2001's The Justus Girls). Black Music magazinereporter LaVerne "Legs" Diamond sets out to interview the four former members of SOS, all foster children who began singing in church and achieved stardom before the age of 18: ruthless Ruth Thomas, who's still performing; Addie Lights, the glamorous owner of Busy Bee Realty; Venus Jones, who once ran a bridal shop; and the elusive Brenda "Birdie" Wade. As the women talk to Legs about the men in their lives and the star-crossed loves of their talented children, the secrets of the past begin to unfold, despite attempts to keep a certain family secret under wraps. The interviews don't flow clearly from one to the next at first and the format renders the action rather distant, but the author—herself a member of a Philly girl group back in the '60s called the Sweethearts of Soul—presents an enchanting portrait of a place and time that will particularly appeal to readers who like uplifting tales about strong African-American women.
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