This romantic and realistic fiction, in three parts: Campbell (her), Donovan (him), and Them (together), is filled with the anguish of two lovers from broken childhoods that included sexual abuse, grandmotherly domination, and pregnancy at fifteen. Campbell takes her pain and creates collages, but Donovan is stymied and stuck. When they meet, there's hope in their joining. The writing is tense and filled with almost disbelief at the ability for these two broken people to try to make each other compensation for all the wrongs. ( )

Another compelling novel by an African American writer featuring the stories of a man and woman, each emotionally scarred as a child, reaching out to each other with love.

Bernice McFadden is the author of ten novels, several of which have won literary prizes. She is one of my favorite African American writers. Her prose is spare and powerful, moving easily between characters and their pasts. The people in her book are vividly alive, believable, and complex. She does not hide their pain, but her calm, understated manner of describing it is compelling. And for her, pain can be transcended, in this book as in the others I have read by her. McFadden never denies pain but she is essentially a hopeful writer.

Loving Donovan is divided into three section; Her, Him, and Them. The first sections deal separately with Campbell and Donovan growing up in Brooklyn, not far from each other but never meeting. Both belong to solidly working-class families, but both families are torn by violence and lack of love. When they meet, both Campbell and Donovan have created successful lives for themselves, but they are still seeking love. At first they seem to find it with each other, but their pasts haunt them. The book’s ending is unconventional, but I thought perfect. (The fact that my plot summary is full of “but” is a clue to the human contradictions that McFadden depicts.)

While this book is set firmly within the African American community, it is not about segregation or racial interaction as some of McFadden’s books have been. Instead it is a narrative of individuals and families; a narrative that none of us can pretend can only happen to other people.

I enthusiastically recommend Loving Donovan, and others by McFadden.

Akashic Books is to be congratulated for reissuing the books of this fine writer. I am grateful to them for sending a copy of McFadden’s latest to read and review. ( )

Like the other two books I've read, McFadden has a lyrical writing style that matches the depth and intensity of her characters. She does not shy away from violent, upsetting, and cruel actions, but she is just as willing to wax poetic and sing out the happy parts of her characters' lives. I really enjoyed the structure of this book, although I could have used a little more Them (or, alternatively, a little more of Campbell's young adulthood). And I was, to be honest, a little disappointed in the ending which I thought veered away from the personalities of the characters that we'd spent so much time getting to know. Still, McFadden has created another encompassing and readable universe here, and one which any reader in love with good characters should try to seek out.

[full review here: http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2015/11/loving-donovan-by-bernice-mcfadden-2003.ht... ] ( )

I received a copy of Loving Donovan as an early review from Library THING.Loving Donovan is a story of love,loss and despair.It parallels the love story of Him and Her to Them. This powerful books sucks you in at page one and dosent leave you go go until its end. It leaves you wanting more. This is my first book by Ms. McFadden but it wont be my last. ( )

I won Loving Donovan was a Early Review copy. It's the story of Campbell and Donovan; of love and loss. McFadden pens a gripping, gritty story of how circumstances re-route our course and how we deal with the rocky road of love and life. The alternating views of Campbell and Donovan serve to draw the reader into their lives before their paths cross. The reader cheers for both characters and anxiously awaits their story. This is a great read that I recommend to those who love a tale that speaks of real life chances. ( )