Have No Shame (When civil rights and forbidden love collide)

Melissa Foster

May 2013 · Sold by World Literary Press

About this ebook

NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY BESTSELLER - HAVE NO SHAME

**WINNER** GOLD MEDAL, Southern Fiction, READERS' FAVORITE AWARD

**FINALIST** Historical Fiction, READERS' FAVORITE AWARD

* Book Club Recommendation *

 

Where civil rights and forbidden love collide...

The racially-charged prejudice of the deep South forces eighteen-year-old Alison Tillman to confront societal norms--and her own beliefs--when she discovers the body of a hate crime victim, and the specter of forbidden love turns her safe, comfortable world upside down. A meaningful combination of romantic suspense and coming of age at its very best.

 

"This book will resonate with readers who enjoyed Kathryn Stockett's, THE HELP, Julie Kibler's, CALLING ME HOME, John Grisham's, A TIME TO KILL, Sue Monk Kidd's, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, and Kathleen Grissom's, THE KITCHEN HOUSE."

 

PLEASE NOTE: This book contains TWO versions of this novel. Readers have the option to read with or without the southern dialect in the narrative (two versions, one novel, one purchase). Both versions reflect the exact same story, with the only difference being the style of the narrative.

 

Q&A with author Melissa Foster

 

Q: How is HAVE NO SHAME different from each of your other novels?

 

MF: I write across genres, and HAVE NO SHAME is my first historical fiction novel. But SHAME is also a coming-of-age story, and so much more. HAVE NO SHAME is told in a very soft voice--the voice of the main character, Alison Tillman, and is reflective of her Southern voice. 

 

Q: You've said that this story is your most important story to date. Why is that?

 

MF: HAVE NO SHAME was not an easy book to write. Researching and writing this story took me back to the civil rights era--unearthing all of the hate and prejudice of the times, and it was an eye opening experience. In many ways prejudice is still as strong now as it was then; it's just aimed at other areas of society. Alison's realization of the prejudices of society--and even of those she loves--and the strength she shows in how she moves forward is a lesson for all of us. The heart is not color-blind, and although I know this type of prejudice still exists, I feel it's important to give the truth of that era a voice. 

 

Q: Is this a stand-alone novel?

 

MF: Yes, this is a stand-alone novel, however, I'm asked often to write a follow-up novel to explore what happened next in the town and with the characters. I'm looking forward to exploring that soon.

 

Q: You offer this book in two formats with one purchase--why is that? 

 

MF: Alison's voice came to me as a southern voice in dialogue and in thought, and HAVE NO SHAME is told from Alison's point of view. I felt it was vital to keep her thoughts in her own voice. However, I also realize that readers are passionate about their reading preferences, and because most novels present dialect in only the dialogue, I decided to give readers a choice. Each ebook and each paperback offers both formats: with Southern dialect in the narrative, and without. This has never been done before.

 

SUMMARY

 

Alison Tillman has called Forrest Town, Arkansas home for the past eighteen years. Her mother's Blue Bonnet meetings, her father toiling night and day on the family farm, and the division of life between the whites and the blacks are all Alison knows. The winter of 1967, just a few months before marrying her high school sweetheart, Alison finds the body of a black man floating in the river, and she begins to view her existence with new perspective. The oppression and hate of the south, the ugliness she once was able to avert her eyes from, now demands her attention.

 

When a secretive friendship with a young black man takes an unexpected romantic turn, Alison is forced to choose between her predetermined future, and the dangerous path that her heart yearns for.

 

NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance, new adult romance, and women's fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Melissa's emotional journeys are lovingly erotic and always family oriented. Melissa loves to chat with book clubs and readers, invite her to your next event.

Ratings and reviews

I was really surprised at the beginning of the book by the author giving the reader the option of reading the book with or without the southern dialect in the narrative, this is the first time I have come across this and truly appreciated the thoughtfulness. I chose to read the book without the southern dialect. The main story almost started immediately and the author's style of writing really brought the story and the characters alive. I was so drawn to the storyline that I found the book very hard to put down. I am quite a slow reader normally but actually read this book in three days which is quite a record for me, I just could not stop turning those pages! Alison is only 18 and has been sheltered and protected all her life by her domineering father who she absolutely adores. For years she has had deep rooted beliefs drilled into her and more importantly that she has learnt 'her place' in life. She has lived all her life in a segregated world of whites and coloureds, the coloured people worked on her father's farm or lived in the town, they did not deserve to be spoken to or even be acknowledged, that was the norm. She has never had to question these beliefs and considered them the natural way to live until one day she finds a coloured man's body, Byron Bingham, laying dead and well beaten in the river. Unbeknownst to Alison at the time, this event will turn her life upside down and inside out. Alison cannot help but question why this has happened and just how this tragedy must have affected the dead man's family. She begins to feel shame and disgust for the way she, as well as others, have behaved towards the coloured people in her town and even starts to hate her fiance Jimmy Lee, who finds the chasing and beating of coloured's entertainment, he even let's her younger brother join in on the so called fun. What is more, Maggie her older sister who schools away in New York, knows of a different world where whites and coloureds integrate well and starts to open her eyes to a whole new world. Still engaged and planning her wedding, she meets kind and gentle Jackson, her soul partner whose soft love she falls deeply for but cannot allow her true love of a coloured man to continue for fear of what would happen to Jackson and the possibility of losing her father's love completely. The book will have you hooked as you follow the tense rollercoaster story and the shocking and chaotic civil right era along with the sympathisers who help to try and make it a fairer and safer place to live for everyone. I could have read so much more about Alison and Jackson's relationship, it was so beautiful. This is quite a powerful and emotional story that at times made me feel pain, sadness and even anger at the way life was so different then and how people were treated so horrendously. Yet the story is written in such a wonderful way that there is also so much beauty, love and respect that it will really pull on your heart. I felt myself wanting to shout out to Alison but had to remind myself that her world was completely different to the world we now take for granted and decisions could not be taken at will. Truly a highly recommended emotive read that won't just leave you after you have turned the last page. It will certainly leave you wanting more and I cannot wait to read much more from this author.

I loved watching Alison's growth!

One of the best books I've read

About the author

NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance, new adult romance, and women's fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Melissa's emotional journeys are lovingly erotic and always family oriented. Melissa loves to chat with book clubs and readers, invite her to your next event.

.

"You can always rely on Melissa Foster to deliver a story that's fresh, emotional and entertaining. Make sure you have all night, because once you start you won't want to stop reading. Every book's a winner!" - New York Times Bestselling Author Brenda Novak

.

"What sets Melissa Foster apart are her compelling characters who you care about... desperately. I dare you to read the first chapter and not be hooked." New York Times Bestselling Author M.J. Rose

.

"With her wonderful characters and resonating emotions, Melissa Foster is a must-read author!" -NYT Bestseller Julie Kenner

.

"Melissa Foster is synonymous with sexy, swoony, heartfelt romance!" -NYT Bestseller Lauren Blakely