A House Divided is Donna Hill's solo novel about an up and coming journalist Zoie Crawford. Just as her career is taking off, she's called back home to New Orleans because her grandmother died. She's riddled with guilt the whole time since they were close but she never got around to visiting her since her ambitious nature wouldn't allow her the time off from work. Avoiding her family didn't entice her to come home even with her grandmother's impending death.
Just when Zoie is ready to leave for New Orleans, a little bit of serendipity comes in the form of a new assignment handed down from her boss. She is to shadow the campaign of Kimberly Graham who hails from an elite New Orleans family. Convinced she can handle the new assignment and her grandmother Claudia's wishes upon her death, Zoie in turn begins to uncover some harrowing truths about her families' past. These revelations could cause a lot of damage for the two families involved.
A House Divided is not the first time I've been acquainted with this author. I've read a few books by Donna Hill as well as a few she co-authors with Brenda Jackson. A House Divided is a fast read. The girth of the story features Zoie but Hill touches on Kimberly and Jackson. Jackson has got to be the most perfect man ever... wow!
At times I felt there were issues touched upon that could have been further explored. Race relations, family secrets, past loves. I understand that essentially this novel is a romance, there was definitely room to explore these topics a little deeper. Kimberly's story and aftermath would be what I'm most interested in finding out.
Although A House Divided is a fast read that captures readers attention early on, I felt that the story needed a little more depth especially in the the character sense. The story doesn't unfold naturally. It almost felt like one moment they felt one way, then in the next chapter, an epiphany was reached and everything turns out OK. And as far as Zoie is concerned, I didn't like her much of the novel. I almost found her to be way too selfish. As far as the other characters such as the mother and her sister's, Kimberly, and Jackson all seemed like caricatures. Although I dream of a man like Jackson, he just didn't seem real. I hope there's someone out there like him but... He's got to be every woman's dream. SERIOUSLY!
Overall, I did enjoy Donna Hill's A House Divided and definitely will read more by her. I do feel like the novel needed more depth but it's a real page turner so I definitely recommend busting it out at the beach or on the porch with a glass of lemonade. ***
Copy Provided by Kensington Books via Netgalley
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