Train Ride

The Train Ride
by Louise Spencer-Strachan

Spenchan Press, $12, 202pp.
ISBN: 0966036204



This is a witty and moving story enveloping a strong African American working-class family in Washington, D.C., with Tameka as the protagonist. Although only in her mid-twenties, Tameka has experienced tragedies far exceeding many, twice her age. Her only brother had been accidentally killed in the street, followed by the death of her heart-broken father Joshua. And if those losses weren't enough for a young woman, she'd been deceived by her first love.

Tameka was not about to become a victim of bad luck and hard times: She moved to New York to pursue her dream. There, she'll meet Mike, a railroad porter a mature and complex man, who's been widowed.

Tameka is assertive but not cold, she's progressive but earthy. She reached for the stars but never forgets her past. This book is riveting. It is more than a love story. It's a story of survival and triumph of a family determined to rise above all obstacles.