Vigil Chime
BOOKS
TRAGEDY
ONE WAS LOST
PATRICK SINGLETON is a man on the edge of a precipice – both physical and spiritual. He is benumbed with grief, due to the unfortunate event that occurred in his life some years back. Determined to end it all, he hangs on the platform of the elevated subway track at Harlem’s renowned 125th Street.
On the street below, DIARRA SAL, a 10-year old African girl, gets out of a cab with her mother. The ladies arrived from Senegal only hours before, so are eager to begin living their American Dream. The mother is crossing the famous street when suddenly out of nowhere, a car barrels towards her - in full view of the stunned child and Patrick, still on the ledge about to jump.
Ultimately, ONE WAS LOST is a story about loss and pain. But it is also about the resilience of the Human Spirit. Two broken lives converge at an urban intersection – brought together by fate, united by sorrow. Will they succumb to darkness, or will they rise and triumph over grief and tragedy?
LOVE
MY SONGBIRD CAN DANCE
There’s an old expression, forgive and forget. This book is not about that. This book is about the opposite – not forgiving, not forgetting, about the avenging of a despicable wrong that in turn spawns a vicious cycle of retribution.
This book is therefore a trilogy, for that’s how long it took Vigil Chimé to deftly and confidently weave together the wicked web of vengeance that is the plot of her debut novel. The setting is urban, the time contemporary, with a cast of characters drawn from ordinary folks who are going about their ordinary lives, but Chimé has infused their humanity with incredible insight that’s rendered their journeys extraordinary.
If you’re interested in a perspective of America as seen through the eyes of African immigrants and their first-generation American children, then this book is for you. If you’re interested in the literary device of a story-within-a-story within-a-story construct, then this book is also for you. If you’re interested in prose that’s graphic, chuck full of details, vividly imaginative and cinematic to the extent you feel thrust into the center of the action, then this story is definitely for you. But above all, read this book because it’s good.
