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    Ain't No Sunshine
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    Ain't No Sunshine
    Unavailable
    Ain't No Sunshine
    Ebook162 pages2 hours

    Ain't No Sunshine

    By Leslie DuBois

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Whites Only.
    Those words adorned every building in Livingston, Virginia during the summer of 1963 confusing and angering five-year-old Stephen Phillips. Those words told him that what he felt for his colored neighbor Ruthie was wrong. As a teenager, Ruthie becomes the only ray of sunshine in his abusive life and he is not willing to let her go without a fight, a fight that could lead to murder.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLeslie DuBois
    Release dateAug 20, 2010
    ISBN9781458168634
    Unavailable
    Ain't No Sunshine
    Author

    Leslie DuBois

    Leslie DuBois lives in Charleston, SC with her husband and two daughters. She also writes as Sybil Nelson.

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    Reviews for Ain't No Sunshine

    4/5

    15 ratings14 reviews

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    • 4/5
      WOW!The beginning felt a little slow to me, but it worked well to read in tidbits here and there when I only had a few minutes to read - so it worked well and I kept reading. I'm VERY glad I did. The story just got better and better and the ending was a *major* zinger that will shock everyone.Great story! I look forward to reading more books by Leslie DuBois!
    • 4/5
      It was not time for mixed race relationships, but it seemed Stephen love Ruthie all his life. His older brother tried to protect him from an abusive father. It is a horrid story that is reflective of the attitudes during the 1960s. When they finally are old enough to take off, his father, the Reverend Theodore, is killed. Stopped by the police for a broken taillight, Stephen is the prime suspect. There is nothing pleasant about family and their sordid secrets. Ellipsis is overused and distracted readers. However, the story rates a four for the surprise ending.
    • 5/5
      This is the most complicated love story I've read in a long time. It is beautiful, but at the same time it is so tragic and sad. I don't think lovers always live through tragic moments. I suppose it is according to the time you live your life and maybe what locale. Ruthie and Stephen's story begins in 1963. Sadly, they do not live in Virginia where governmental laws would have allowed them to marry without thought to the color of their skin. Ruthie is black. Stephen is white. They definitely are not suppose to be attracted to one another in that way or any way. There story is very complicated because of the underbelly of it. Even if they could have loved one another freely by crossing a color boundary there is another skeleton which falls out of the closet. A skeleton which shocked me to the bones. If the stars work against us, they definitely worked against this couple. However, love is powerful. They're love survived all the cruelty of family, friends, and it survived the laws of government. The characters in AIN'T NO SUNSHINE by LESLIE DUBOIS are complex. For example, there is Stephen's father. He's not complicated. He's beyond cruel. What kind of father uses a broomstick to beat his son? What kind of father brutally lies to his son with prevarications which could change or harm his whole life. There is Mabel. Mabel is Ruthie's mother. She is dead. I discovered that a dead character can seem very much alive if they had a large presence in the lives of other characters while they were living. Then, there is Matthew. When I learned the truth about Matthew, I couldn't believe it. He is one reason why I say this novel is filled with twists and turns that double back over each other over and over again like a twisted road a person drives once and never wants to drive again. Truly, this novel would make a great movie. Perhaps, Ruthie's love of painting fits perfectly in the novel. The name of one painting is INTO THE LIGHT. Throughout the novel, Ruthie and Stephen needed to see and feel light all around them in order to feel secure from chaos and pain. They experienced too much darkness. It is the kind of darkness no lovers should experience."The best of her work this year was a painting she called "Into the Light." She had painted a person walking into a ray of light......" Then, there is the dark. There is always this battle of light and dark in the novel because life is really made of these two shades of color. It is only in the grey areas where there is time to breathe.KINDLE, lesliedubois
    • 5/5
      This book is so good I read in a day. Could not put it down! I have read three books by this author now and they are just getting better and better. As I was reading this story played out in my mind like a movie. I was visualizing every scene and there are so many surprises right until the end that it kept me thinking this would make an awesome movie. It takes you back to the 60's and 70's with racial intolerance and a love story. If you think these things would be of interest to you I recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      Stephen and Ruthie each have a rough childhood but are drawn to each other from their earliest days. As their relationship develops the have to overcome many obstacles. But the revelation Stephen's father shares with him one night changes everything. A fantastic book with so many twists and turns that it will keep you guessing until the very end.
    • 3/5
      A touching story. I like the way Leslie writes, very easy to follow and to the point. I am very dissapointed in the ending though, I understand that the story is'nt supposed to be a happily ever after type of story, but the end is a little too much and, quite frankly, sickening. Other than that the story is brilliant!
    • 4/5
      "Ain't No Sunshine" is a well-written engaging book that chronicles an abusive home life and the burgeoning cross-racial love between two young people. There were a couple of surprises toward the end of the book, and I did not see them coming. Hats off to the author for that! The sympathy a reader feels for the protagonist takes a bit of hit when the plot shifts, leaving the reader unsure how to feel. Without including any spoilers, I really can't expand on that. But it is an excellent book that has the reader really feeling for and caring about the characters. There were relatively few typos or other errors. It was a superbly plotted and expertly executed story.
    • 4/5
      A very engaging book. I loved the way the story proceeds. The first person narrative deepens the pain and passion of the protagonist - Stephen. The ending kind of blew me away. Totally unexpected. Really a wonderful book.
    • 3/5
      It's All About the EndingAin't No Sunshine, a novella by Leslie DuBois, is easy to read in spite of a dark and disturbing subject matter. It's a mystery that involves racism, love, hopelessness, subterfuge and other dark secrets. The writer's style of flipping back from the police interview to having Stephen retell his life story was a suitable device that I found jarring on the odd occasion. On the whole, the story was well-written but didn't quite compel me as I'd hoped at the beginning of the book. The twist at the end will make it memorable though. A good enough read for free that might shock and upset some sensitive readers.
    • 3/5
      I got a copy of this book as part of the member giveaway. I loved the first one I got (Queen Bee) and wanted to see what this one would be like. Well I liked it but probably not as much as Queen Bee of Bridgeton. In this one, the author takes on a very serious issue. It addresses the way african american people were treated in the past. It looks at this issue from the point of view of a young white boy. I loved the way the main character Stephen narrates the story. The end disappointed me a bit as it seemed a little contrived.. as if the author was rushing to end the story and tie up all loose ends.Over all a good one time read
    • 5/5
      Ain’t No Sunshine, a novella written by Leslie DuBois. This story wowed me. I was drawn in immediately and the wonderful narration kept me glued. The imagery is strong and the dialogue is believable and engaging. I was moved by the characters and cared about their outcome.The story begins as Stephen Phillips is interrogated by a badgering Chicago police officer. “Did you do it, Stephen?” The officer places gruesome photos of Reverend Phillips’ bloody corpse on the table, but Stephen refuses to look at them. “Why don't you look at your father's mutilated body? Beaten to death with a shovel outside his own home."The officer continues asking Stephen if he murdered the man who lay dead in Virginia. The same man who raised and loved him for eighteen years. Stephen replies, “My father never loved me. Never.”When the officer’s goading doesn’t get the desired response, he attempts another tactic—changing the direction of the conversation to Stephen’s girlfriend Ruthie who sits in a nearby interrogation room. Excerpt: "Maybe I'll just have to ask that pretty little colored girlfriend of yours," he said, staring at Ruthie's picture and licking his lips. "You leave her out of this." My hands clenched into fists. "I don't know if I can do that. She seems to be pretty involved." He kept staring at her picture as he spoke. "Your father is found dead at your home in Virginia and you're found seven hundred miles away with a Negro whore. I can't -" He didn't get to finish his thought. I leapt across the table and started pounding his face in. Seconds later, I was subdued by several officers. They placed me back in the chair and handcuffed me to the table. This was getting worse and worse by the minute. I'd gladly go to jail for killing that man. He deserved to die. I just didn't want Ruthie to get dragged into this. After all we'd been through, at least one of us deserved a chance to be happy.After the room settles, another officer enters the room. Lieutenant Drake has a friendlier, gentle approach, and Stephen begins to soften. Excerpt:"Why are you running? You know running only makes you look guilty and I don't really believe you killed your father. I don't think you're capable." I stared at him. "You have no idea what I'm capable of. You have no idea what that man did to me." "You're right. I don't," he said, trying to hide his surprise at my response. He sat down and crossed his arms. "So why don't you tell me? You obviously have a story and you need someone to listen. So tell me your story. Tell me everything."Stephen’s story soon begins to flow. He tells about Ruthie, his childhood friend, and how their friendship eventually blossomed into a powerful love as they grew—despite the fact that loving a ‘colored’ was forbidden. He remembered staring up at the colored balcony in his father’s church when he was six years old, trying to catch a glimpse of his beautiful Ruthie. He paid for it when he got home with a beating. That didn’t stop his love for Ruthie. He refused to let his father take the one thing in his life that brought him true happiness. He tells the officer about the lifetime of abuse he, his brother (Matthew), and mother (Marjorie) endured by the hands of the cherished small town Virginia reverend, Theodore Phillips. His father’s explosive anger and violence plagued him every day. After years of violent abuse, Matthew disappeared, and Marjorie suffered mercilessly until becoming an empty shell; but Stephen endured by retreating into that loved part of his heart. The beautiful part that Ruthie filled. Stephen divulges the many ordeals that cursed his life that led to the day Theodore Phillips died. He reveals the eccentricities, secrets, and atrocities his father kept concealed behind his reverend cloak, and in the end, the truth behind the reverend’s death. Upon completing this novella, I felt somewhat changed. It is a sad story with victories, and a terrifying tale with soft and loving moments. Such a wide range of emotions that finally left me feeling satisfied—yet not settled.
    • 4/5
      Read this book quickly & easily, I had special interest, being in a cross-cultural marriage myself. The story was cleverly crafted & the details poignantly told. I had a great deal of sympathy for the main characters and found myself rooting for them to escape their troubled past. Like the twists & turns at the end. Very nice.
    • 5/5
      This one left me reeling... It has a lot in its favor. This is one of those books that I found myself asking, "Why is it self pubbed? This is good stuff..." First of all, even though the narrator is male, I loved his voice. I loved the way he showed his story, not told it. He drew me in, had my sympathizing, and wondering what was going to happen to him next. Second, I could not for the life of me figure out what was going to happen. Just when I thought I had the entire story figured out... it went a totally different path.The narrator is Stephen, the time is the 1970s. He has been picked up by the police and is being interrogated about the death of his father and why he and Ruthie, an African American girl, are running from the law. Shephen sits there and tells his and Ruthie's story and what a story!!Stephen's dad is a reverend who is one man in public and an abusive man at home... "It made me sick the way people fawned over him like he was heaven incarnate. He fooled everyone into thinking he was just simply angelic. In public, his light brown eyes would glisten and gleam with kindness and sincerity, but at home, I was sure those eyes were from Satan himself."Stephen seeks comfort from the abuse at home with his neighbor, Ruthie. He grows up with Ruthie and falls in love with her.. Despite their difference in skin color, he wants to marry her... but it seems his dad has something to say about that.The dad winds up dead... family secrets are revealed and they are shocking... and Stephen and Ruthie end up on the run. Are they able to be together? Are they arrested? I'm not saying.A shocker of a book and a quick read. The author doesn't overburden it with unnecessary details to make it a door stopper.
    • 4/5
      It's a very interesting read. It has great characters with real depth, vivid details, an attention holding plot, and a twist ending that leaves you satisfied. Only warning is that it's a deeply disturbing tale.