Misbegotten

By W. James Richardson

Book Overview

Retired Detroit police offi cer Hugo Heiderberg is distraught upon learning that his daughter Emily was the victim of a rape after she was abducted from a festival in downtown Detroit. Hugo is a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1453575979
• ISBN13: 9781453575970
• Release Date: October 2010
• Publisher: Xlibris
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Children Provide the Healing

Blatant bigotry, racism, abortion, adoption, murder, understanding and healing are the ingredients of the novel Misbegotton. The author, W. James Richardson, presents the tale of a young college student brutally raped and impregnated by her attacker, hence the "misbegotten" child. What happens in the aftermath of this crime is the basis of this story.Emily Heiderberg, a college student, is raped one evening while attending a country and western jamboree in Detroit. Her father, Hugo, a former police officer and known bigot, wants her attackers brought to justice. The only problem is, he wants to inflict his own type of justice and with the assistance of his associates, he does just that. Ullyis Washington, the police sergeant, has no tolerance for bigots and he remembers Hugo when he was on the police force. Following the rape, drama breaks loose in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs and Ullysis is assigned to a task force to assist in solving the crimes. What is revealed is amazing in and of itself. What becomes of Emily's child? How does Ullysis behave when his son becomes engaged to someone outside of his race? Those are some of the many questions provided in this story. The friends and family of the main characters are highlighted and the children provided the healing in this story. The children have a special gift of understanding that forced the adults to stop and look at their behavior and the overall affect. The results were healing and understanding among four families. Some of the characters definitely reaped what they sowed.This was an entertaining, drama filled and fast paced story. The only problem I had with the novel was the editing. Thought patterns tended to shift to different characters and time periods without indication. Other than the editing I truly enjoyed this story. Provides for a lively discussion on race relations.Reviewed by Dawn

A Sisters in Spirit BookClub Review

This was definitely a page turner! This book was packed with excitement and drama. It kept me on the edge of my seat. Richardson touched on issues of racism, abortion, rape and many others faced in our society today. He did a wonderful job creating realistic characters although at times, some of the plot seemed a little too fictional. However the book was so poignant, that I felt as if I were actually amidst all of this chaos. I would definitely offer it as a reading selection for book clubs because the issues presented offer alot to discuss.

julie willis

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I found the characters interesting and diversed. The twists and turns in the story kept my interest and to the point that I found it difficult to put the book down. I wanted to keep on reading. I found the main plot very engaging and in particular as to how Limuel, the misbegotten child,impacted the lives of several families. It was a most interesting story and a very fine debut for the author's first novel.

Explosive themes

The author effectively grabs the reader in the beginning of this novel. Hugo Heiderberg, a racist and retired police officer, enters the Beaubein Street Police Precinct in Detroit to file a missing persons report on his duaghter. While he was on the police force Hugo was a part of a group of officers called the Dirty Dozens. They were investigated and exonerated for malicious beatings they carried out on black people.Now the "perfect" world Hugo has built is about to explode! His daughter is located, but she's been raped! The family who has been pro-life until now must struggle with the fact that Emily is pregnant after her rape by a black man. They are faced with the dilemma: should she or shouldn't she?The author has chosen challenging subjects for this very interesting and thought provoking freshman novel. He uses bigotry, racism, hate crimes, and the right to life debate as anchors in a story that begins with rape and then chronicles the life of an innocent baby, (thus, the book title "Misbegotten") and those around him who are affected by and linked to him as a result of this horrendous crime. This book was read by our African American Authors book group and was rated an average of 3.75 on a scale of 1-5.