Tiffany L. Warren

The story of the first African American opera singer, known as the Black Swan.

Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield was born into slavery on a plantation in Mississippi. Her family was sent back to Liberia, but due to a serious illness, Eliza remained in America, where her benefactor provided her with a good life and education. She had great dreams of going to Europe and performing on the stage.

Breaking off her engagement, she took everything into her own hands to become a prima donna. Her path to show more fame was difficult and rocky, but she had to follow her destiny.

I admired Eliza for her determination to succeed, which took her not only to tour Europe but also to perform for Queen Victoria. She was a very talented singer and instrumentalist.

The descriptions of life before the Civil War seemed very realistic to me. The way the author wrote the story kept me completely engaged. I was immersed in the time and place. I was surrounded by historical characters and events. And I was involved in the story until the very last page.

It was a very interesting nivel and I liked that I learned something about someone I had not heard of before. show less

It’s been awhile since I’ve been so conflicted about a protagonist. To say that I wanted to see Nikki lose isn’t entirely accurate, but I definitely wasn’t rooting for her happily ever after, either. Nikki is portrayed as a flawed, yet persistent woman. I can always understand her choices, even if I didn’t always respect them.

Her Secret Life follows Onika “Nikki” Lewis through her young adult years, alternating between her high school graduation and early years of college to show more her post-graduate mid-twenties. In vivid flashbacks, Warren dredges up painful memories of a drug-addicted mother and grandmother who is too consumed with her daughter’s “sickness” to love and nurture the granddaughter who’s left behind. Nikki’s escape comes in the form of a full scholarship to the prestigious Robinson University in Atlanta, a beacon of excellence for the most promising black scholars. It here where Nikki opts to create a new identity. No longer known as the daughter of the town whore, she vows to become successful and sophisticated.

I thought the hardships of her youth and her tenacity to succeed would serve Nikki well. Unfortunately, she squandered her opportunity, instead being thrown out on the streets — literally — when her relationship with a wealthy playboy abruptly ends. The bulk of Her Secret Life focuses on Nikki as she reconciles who she thought she’d become with her new reality as another unemployed, homeless person on the streets of Washington, D.C.

What soured me on Nikki was her pride and greed, and her greatest character flaw was dishonesty. Although it was easy to understand her decision-making, Nikki’s lies only dug her into hole after hole after hole. It got particularly old when it interfered with the growth of her relationship with Graham. It was as it she didn’t learn her lessons, and was doomed to lose, even when it looked like she might start winning. Her inability to make smart choices when people from her past popped up kept me shaking my head in disdain. Nikki’s arrogance — even in the midst of her own downfall — was frustrating. Her condescending attitude toward those trying to helpful and her mockery of their faith was grating and bordered on disrespectful. I kept wanting her to be able to simply acknowledge others’ faith without always having to get the last word in about how her own faith wavered.

After finishing the book, however, I realized Nikki’s journey was the entire point. Her struggle to put her past behind her without reconciling the true impact it had on who she became was a major theme. Even when she had the opportunity to pursue a healthy, promising relationship with Graham, her constant paranoia about her past and her present situation was always a roadblock. Only when she is forced to face her past head on does Nikki truly show growth.

Her Secret Life is a compelling read. Despite my mixed feelings about Nikki, I couldn’t put it down. I would be particularly interested to see a sequel to Her Secret Life, whether following Nikki and Graham or one of their Graham’s friends. They served as foils throughout the story, often providing cautionary advice or simply support to the main characters. However, they all seemed to have more lurking with their own situations. show less

The story progressed quickly, giving snippets of characters' personalities. The plot seems typical, a woman scorned, but twists in wonderful ways right up until the end. Intense enough to read in one sitting. I enjoyed it.

This was an enjoyable and informative story about Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield an aspiring black opera singer in the 1800's who became a famous prima donna called 'The Black Swan'. I was pleased to see it was actually based on a real person as so often women and especially women of color in the past have been passed over and forgotten. Elizabeth, or Liza as she was called had a magnificent talent that she was lucky enough to be able to use to propel her career eventually to sing for the Queen show more of England. She was quite the force and refused marriage so that she could pursue her career in opera. I liked the fact that she really was a bit of a diva, comparing her voice to another famous singer of the times Jenny Lind, and remarking that her voice was better and her range much deeper. No ego there;). This was a very good read and I found it historically accurate and interesting. Recommended. 4 stars.
Many thanks to Net Galley and HarperAudio Adult | HarperAudio for a chance to listen/read an ARC version of this book. show less