Ties That Bind

November 11, 2002
A sordid betrayal lies at the heart of Ties That Bind, a novel by Brenda Jackson (Family Reunion) spanning 35 years in the lives of two couples who become friends at Howard University in the 1960s. Randolph Fuller's wife, Angela, had to drug him to get him to sleep with her, but in the end she got her way: she became pregnant and forced Randolph to leave his true love, the modest, bookish Jenna. But 12 years later, Randolph and Angela are separated, Jenna conveniently widowed and the old lovers have an opportunity to start over. Jackson also follows the more sedate lives of Randolph's friends Noah and Leigh Wainwright and the various couplings of their offspring. In spite of all the action, the book offers a resounding moral: cheaters and sluts never prosper.

November 1, 2002
Jackson (A Family Reunion) sets her new work on a 1960s college campus, where there's plenty of talk about the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. Still, personal problems loom largest, as four friends form a tight bond to help one another get through final exams, love affairs, and broken hearts.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2002
During the 1960s, a group of Howard University students establish ties that bind them forever. Jeanna Haywood, a southern belle from Knoxville, Tennessee, and an aspiring architect, is a roommate of Ellie Stanhope and Leigh Murdoch. In an off-campus residence, Noah Wainwright and Ross Fuller are also Howard students working toward their law degrees. Noah and Leigh are both from Miami and became acquainted through Leigh's older brother, Zachary. Randolph Fuller, Ross's younger brother, has had his desires set on Jeanna from the first sight. These characters support each other through romance, college exams, the Vietnam War, the Black Panther movement, and the freedom rides in the South. As they mature from college students to professionals to parents, they remain close and an integral part of each other's lives. Some 30 years later, when their children begin to date, fall in love, and marry, these characters and families become even more entangled. This novel is a wonderful, wholesome story about love, life, friendship, and family.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)