Authorpreneur Dashboard – R A Russell
Raising Redemption
Literature & Fiction
Recalling such epic novels as "Roots" and "The Joy Luck Club," R. A. Russell’s sweeping drama chronicles four generations of the Tilman family as they search for the things that will relieve the pain of the past. With its roots in 1975, "Raising Redemption" is a stirring and provocative story of the shame, secrets, sacrifice and struggle of an African American family who has worked to establish a name synonymous with respect, honor and dignity. To the Tilman women Ben Tilman was a symbol of redemption: a revered doctor, a loving father and husband; a man who defied all preconceived notions of what a bastard son of a hated man would become. When his teenage daughter Alicia, headed for the Ivies to continue the family’s upward rise, defies her father’s rule to stay away from Dickey Samson, she is unprepared for the consequences that rain down on her: a baby, a near shooting and estrangement. When Alicia discovers that her actions link the Tilmans and Samsons to a dark secret that will now live on through another generation, she runs away. On her own and truly alone, Alicia realizes that success is the only solution to shame, and she struggles to become worthy among the noble Tilman women. "Raising Redemption" chronicles the hardships and triumphs of four generations and is a sweeping tribute to the salvation we can only find from within.
Book Bubbles from Raising Redemption
The Story Behind "Raising Redemption"
I found the inspiration for "Raising Redemption," a family saga spanning four generations, from both positive and negative circumstances. The story began to germinate approximately thirty years ago, as I daydreamed about Alexi Rousseau, the fourth generation in the book. I would tuck him away after a few minutes, but he would always come back, generally in greater detail than when he had last left me. Then my mind wandered to his mother, her parents, and their parents. About nine years ago, I was thinking about the story constantly, and I knew I would have a lifetime regret if I didn’t try to ink it. One night I wrote two paragraphs, which took two hours. But from that point I was hooked and couldn’t stop writing. Ideas rained down over a period of three months, after which I had a rough manuscript of twenty-four chapters. The negative inspiration—a lifetime regret—had been replaced by the positive, exhilarating experience of discovering my own unique voice.
