12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

What a journey..., October 2, 2003

Reviewer: A reader from New Jersey

The past is a bridge to the future.

In Margaret Johnson-Hodge's newest literary offering, A Journey to Here, we find Sylvia "Suvie" Allen neck deep in what she considers a good life. Happily married for nineteen years to Emory, two wonderful adolescent daughters, Aaron and Monet.

However, the pretenses of Suvie's happiness step into the light when the past literally comes a knocking at her door. Phillip Butler, Suvie's first love from thirty years prior, is on her doorstep begging forgiveness and a second chance for the horrible act of betrayal that still haunts Suvie three decades later.

The teenage Phillip and Suvie had been on the road of heartfelt young romance, sure to end up at Lovers Lane, which crosses with Forever Boulevard. Virginal Suvie felt a stirring in her heart that she was sure would eventually lead her to give Phillip her greatest possessions, her everlasting love and her body. But when teenage Phillip, in an act of raging hormone weakness, engages Suvie's best friend, Dorothy, the walls of Phillip and Suvie's budding romance come crashing down.

Now, all these years later, Phillip wants out of his unhappy marriage to Dorothy and wants to start anew with Suvie. This causes Suvie to examine her deepest desires and reevaluate her own life. It's the catalyst for a series of events in her seemingly happy family that will have you on the edge of your seat. Suvie's husband, Emory, and her daughters, Aaron and Monet, will all face life-altering issues through the course of the novel, their triumphs and failings becoming the reader's joys and burdens, because the characters are so carefully drawn, so real you can practically feel their fingers on your skin.

The journey to understanding for Suvie and Emory, Phillip and Dorothy is handled with an artist's stroke in Johnson-Hodges' expert hands. MJH's storytelling skills and poetic word phrasing is a glass of lemon and sugar on a sweltering summer day. MJH manages to take even the minor characters and bring them to life. Her portrayal of Suvie's hairdresser, Betty, with her admonishment to Suvie, "breakage is your middle name", had me smiling ear to ear. Few authors take the time to bring forth fully realized characters, few authors value the reader as much as Margaret Johnson-Hodge. Every page, every word, is a blessed offering to those fortunate enough to pick up her novels. In this climate of underwhelming fiction, MJH is the salve, a novelist with gusto, stories that titillate your senses and stretch your emotions. Those looking for stories with high drama and no substance are best to look elsewhere. Those looking for stories that etch themselves in your soul long after the last page has been turned...your journey ends here, with Margaret Johnson-Hodge.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

A Must Read......, December 15, 2003

Reviewer: Lori Holman (see more about me) from Hamilton Twp., NJ United States

MJH had done it again. I purchased the book when it was first released but still had a couple of books to finish first. Bad mistake on my part. I should have put them all down and got with the book.

It is a page turner and keeps you wanting more. Sylvia "Suvie", Emory, Philip and Dororthy. And oooh please don't let me forget that Aaron (the daughter you love to hate). This story is real, keeps you guessing and most importantly you can relate to it. It shows you how your past can come back to hurt you when you least expect it. And that you should be as honest as possible. We are all human and can't control the unexpected. It also teaches you when life throws you a lemon, you definitely have to make lemonade!!

Run out and get this book. Buy it as a gift!! Spread the Word. Margaret Johnson-Hodge has done it again!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

A Journey of self discovery, November 28, 2003

Reviewer: R.E.A.L. Reviewers (see more about me) from U.S.A.

According to Margaret Johnson Hodge, the past can not be altered, yesterday is just that and tomorrow anything is possible.

One day Philip arrived on the doorstep of Sylvia Allen, his high school sweetheart. Philip, married for 30 years to Dorothy returned to New York to see if the flames of love could be rekindled.

Sylvia and Dorothy were best friends in high school until Philip came between them. Sylvia had been "holding out", but Dorothy "put out." Dorothy and Philip's tryst broke up her friendship with Sylvia.

For 30 years, Dorothy was the glue behind her marriage, telling Philip how to dress and what promotions to apply for. All of Dorothy's hard work paid off because Philip attained a nice solid middle class lifestyle with all the trappings and finery to go along with it, but something in the past still gnawed at his heart: Sylvia.

Sylvia was a stay at home mom dealing with teenage daughters. Aaron was rebellious and sneaking around to see boys; Monet was shy and bulimic.

When Sylvia caught Aaron in a compromising position with her boyfriend J'Qaun and Aaron discovered that the "stranger" Philip was her mom's long- lost teenage love, they made a pact not to divulge each other's secret. A pact Aaron broke the fateful day she told her father, Emery that Sylvia, his wife had kissed Philip.

In A Journey to Here, their lives were put together with bits of glue and dabs of spit. Philip's appearance back in Sylvia's life caused her to confront issues that she had locked away for thirty years in an airtight vault. Will the marriage of Emery and Sylvia survive? Will Monet overcome her bulimia?

This is a book about family and the compromises one makes to resolve past issues, a story that will keep the reader entranced in the power of love and forgiveness. Margaret Johnson Hodge's characters are fully developed with all the human idiosyncrasies. I enjoyed reading this novel, for the author writes about real life issues in a straight forward manner.

Helen
R.E.A.L. Reviewers

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

What A Journey, November 21, 2003

Reviewer: Barbara (see more about me) from Maywood, Illinois United States

I couldn't put A Journey To Here down.I really enjoyed this different story line.What a good read.I have read all of Ms. Hodge's novels and I am never disappointed. Each novel I feel like I know the characters. Each one seams better than her last novel. Recommend to all readers. Great book for book club discussions. Love your style,keep them coming. I am looking forward to reading your next novel.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

A journey worth reading about, November 10, 2003

Reviewer: Anfra from Memphis, TN

The book was so wonderfully written. Margaret Johnson Hodge is an excellent story teller. I got to met Suvie, Emory, Phillip and Dorothy and they each touched my life. We are all on a journey and sometimes the past dictates the future if we don't make peace with it.

Please read this book and travel to A Journey to Here with these characters.

Anfra
Author of You Are My Sister

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