Clementine Camille, Volume 3 An American Life [Paperback]

        If Clementine Camille: Volume One: An American Romance is the story of sincere and joyful affection that overcomes the artificial barrier of skin color and ethnic heritage as an impediment to love, and if Clementine Camille: Volume Two: An American Memoir is a portrayal of maturity and achievement in the complex social and psychological context of both racial sensitivity and insensitivity, then Clementine Camille: Volume Three: An American Life—the final novel in the Clementine Camille trilogy—takes on the most challenging theme of all: the agonizing loss and the bitter grief that follows when Clementine Brown and Tyler Raymond’s on-going romance is shattered by sudden tragedy.  Thus, while the issues that attend racial awareness are ever-present in both the foreground and the background as the novel unfolds in a juxtaposing of reality and memory and dream, in the final analysis, An American Life portrays the struggle not just to survive but to survive with worth and dignity that challenges everything Clementine and Tyler had managed to create over their lifetime together. 
        At the same time, that there is a story to tell after the tragedy is both a testament to the love Clementine and Tyler conjured and shared and a tribute to every member of the family who stands fast when, for a while, it appeared that, indeed, the sky might well be falling down all around them.

“An American Life plumbs the profound and complex consequences when the death of a dearest loved one threatens to destroy the survivor’s universe.”
                  Joyce Davidsen, M.Ed, University of Central Florida

Born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1938, Ronald was educated in the public schools before attending the Chicago Art Institute.  After servicel#µ