A Life Apart by L. Y. Marlow

ISBN: 978-0-30771939-3

“. . . captures the reader.”

Morris Sullivan, the white, middle class, American husband and father was onboard the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when the bomb hit. Thrown under water by the impact of the explosion Morris found himself face to face with a man he had never seen before. The man, identified only as Robert, had pulled Morris out of danger and saved his life. Morris’ obsession with thanking this black man named Robert, led him into a world he wouldn’t understand until decades later.

On his quest to find Robert, Morris learned of Robert’s sister, Beatrice. Beatrice was in Boston attending a school for black women. Very aware of the horror of racial discrimination, Beatrice longed to hear of her brother from this stranger. Morris, intrigued by her fortitude, wanted her in his life. Was their relationship worth the risks involved?

In A Life Apart, L.Y. Marlow portrays the attitudes of prejudice towards African Americans from World War II through the African American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s and into the present. Marlow captures the reader through the story as love is revealed amidst a cruel and unforgiving humanity.

Reviewer: Tammy L. Sanchez, MPW; Freelance Writer