Back To Life

By Wendy Coakley-Thompson

Book Overview

At the age of 29, Lisa Martin is trying to heal after her brutal marriage and bitter divorce from her sadistic ex. Forty-year-old Marc Guerrieri should be living it up now that his disastrous marriage to an Italin American princess is finally over, and his new book is creeping up the bestseller charts - instead he's the walking wounded. That is until he meets Lisa at a party. Could it be that that the two are made for each other? Neither find it easy to accept, but equally neither can deny the gravitational pull of the other.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 075820745X
• ISBN13: 9780758207456
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Kensington
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful read...great book!

I give Back to Life by Wendy Coakley-Thompson 5 stars. Out of all the books that included an interracial-romance love story, this book is the best I've read to date. Definitely, not your typical everyday interracial romance book/novel. I've read several books/novels that explore love outside one's race or culture, including Fate, Meeting of the Waters, Close Encounters, The Color of Love, I'll be Your Shelter and I daresay Shades of Desire, and this by far is the best yet. This novel was expertly written with descriptive details and events that actually happened. It tells the story of an Italian male writer and a Black female artist, who have both been hurt by love in the past but come together and find a long lasting love despite the racial turmoil and angst swirling around them. I loved how the book explored the complex issues and racial prejudices of a community as well as close friends and family.

Can't Wait For The Next One

I have read my fair share of romance novels but I must say, this is now one of my favorites. From the beginning, I knew this book was special. The storyline is masterfully crafted and the characters what can I say, enlightening yet thought provoking. I read this book in less than 24 hours, I couldn't put it down and I didn't want it to end. I am patiently waiting for the next one and I know we won't be disappointed. It's hard to believe that this is Coakley-Thompson's first novel.

Wonderful real-world romance

I am an avid reader of interracial romances and I happened upon this book almost by accident. I was a little concerned because there were not many customer reviews of the book. This book has definitely shot to the very top of my all-time favorites list. I prefer romances involving real characters and not caricatures and this book delivered. While this book dealt with hot button issues, the author was still able to draw multi-dimensional characters and put their sometimes aberrant behavior in a societal context. This is also a book with real grown-ups as Lisa and Marc are both divorced thirty-somethings. It was much more powerful than your typical fantasy-romance. Both characters had former spouses that they both cared very deeply for at one time and they both were conflicted about letting go. The characters were mature professionals, both had baggage, but the story didn't become mired in histrionics. It was about the characters slowly letting go of an old life and having the courage to move on. That Lisa was black and Marc was white was integral to the story and added to the conflict, but it was handled superbly, because they were written as fully-realized people and not stereotypes. Too often in interracial romances, the cultural differences dominate and/or neither character has had ANY experience dealing with people from the other culture. This book is realistic in portraying the multi-cultural nature of their lives in NY. I also loved how the book put the state of race relations in context by using the notorius Bensonhurst incident. Wonderful story, grown-up prose. I hated for the book to end.

real tale of the interacial romance

wendy coakley thompson's "back to life" is a real piece of literature that details the interracial romance experience in real terms. the attention to themes of the day and music of the moment adds a special spice to the book and helps to set the mood. i just love hearing "what's playing in the background". lisa and marc show us the conflict one feels in a situation like theirs. and it's also a treat to see how their exes factor into the relationship as well. a good read!

Great Book

I enjoyed reading 'Back to Life' not because it was such a well-written, heartwarming love story, but because I was able to relate to it as I lived in New York during that time period when all af those events took place. I was able to relate to it too as a woman of colour who had a history of physical abuse, and also as one who knew several mixed couples who weathered great storms to be able to stay together and maintain their love for each other. The author was able to provide such imagery that there were times when I felt I was actually inside the story listening to Nina Simone singing 'Mississippi god damn' and eating guava duff which is a delicious, sumptuous Bahamian dessert, more so when rum is added to the sauce. The story was believable, the details of the events were so accurate.I am looking forward to viewing this story on the 'BIG SCREEM'