Raising Redemption by R.A. Russell

Format: Softcover
ISBN 13: 978-1-62652-014-1
LCCN: 2013931892
Trim Size: 5.5x8.5
Number of Pages: 526
Publisher: Langdon Street Press
Publication Date: 5/7/2013

For Alicia Tilman, a seventeen-year-old girl on her way to Radcliffe, meeting her parents’ expectations means everything. But when Dickey Samson comes around, Alicia defies her father’s longstanding rule that she stay away from the boy, and is unprepared for the consequences that rain down upon her: a baby, a near shooting, estrangement.
Learning the dark family secret behind her father’s warning, Alicia leaves her home in Chesapeake, Virginia, and heads for San Francisco, a big city on the opposite coast, whose pictures always look pretty. Alone, pregnant, and homeless, Alicia makes a decision that will alter her relationship with her family forever: making a new home for herself at Lil’s Place, an escort service of girls who become Alicia’s confidantes, sisters.
After placing her son for adoption, Alicia realizes that success is the only solution to shame, and struggles to become worthy of the symbolic silver teapot handed down among the noble Tilman women. As the years go by, and her efforts build, Alicia is determined to reconnect with her mother, her father, and her son, whose life she had protected at the risk of ruining her own.
Chronicling the hardships and triumphs of four generations, Raising Redemption is a sweeping tribute to the salvation we can only find from within.

About the author:
R. A. Russell is a practicing business-law attorney in Los Angeles, California. Russell graduated with honors from Claremont McKenna College in 1971 after majoring in history and philosophy. In 1974, Russell graduated from Harvard Law School with an emphasis on corporate and tax law. Raising Redemption is his first novel.

My Review:
What a story about strength. I can not believe how strong these women were. To be able to have generations suffer the same fate by another family, and then to have to see that family shows great courage. These women went through such tragedy, and they came out on top, because of their strength. As I read this book I thought about how strong the grandmother was and how she passed down her strength from generation to generation, each getting stronger. Until Alicia goes against her family and ruins everything her parents, especially her dad, worked so hard to achieve. This was a really emotional book. I was mad, sad and by the end of the book I was happy. The book is long, and very descriptive. The book had a Romeo and Juliet vibe to it. I can not wait to see if there is a sequel! I will be keeping my eye out for this author! I am giving this book a 5/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own.