D. Allen Jenkins
Contact
Profile

Title: The Making of Tibias Ivory: Freedom’s Quest
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 240

Synopsis:

In the southern town of Principle, men work hard, women care for their families, and children laugh under placid skies as they watch kites dance on a warm prevailing wind. Everyone has a role; everyone knows their place; and most are content for things to remain as they are, and always have been— idyllic. There is no expectation of anything different, until two teenagers, Hog Worthington and Bethany Ivory, on individual quests to be released from their own perceived set of shackles, discover each other and set out to challenge the seemingly predetermined course of their lives.

The ensuing events unravel the thin stitchings of perfection in the town, and reveal the reality of character within themselves, and in all who come in contact with them. Courage is tested. Thinking is challenged. Ideologies are assaulted and Faith is shaken to the core. Friendships and families are formed and broken, and lives are shattered beyond repair.

Then, from the midst of the turmoil, a tiny ray of hope— one the town did not anticipate, and one it would struggle to accept in the face of the destruction of all they ever knew— broke through the gathered clouds. But would it make a difference?

--------------------

The Making of Tibias Ivory: Freedom's Quest
by D. Allen Jenkins
Review by John Howard Reid

----------

More Powerful Than Faulkner! A Real Book, a Real Story, Real People!

I am not a fan of kindle, nook, iPad and other such devices. True, they are useful if what you seek is simply information. When it comes to fiction, however, like many other reviewers, I like to hold a real book in my hands. A printed book holds many clues to the author's credentials. For instance, the first thing I want to know is the writer's identity. Is he or she a real man or woman with a genuine desire to share his or her insights and experiences with the reader, or simply a manufactured media-front automaton for some bread-and-circuses publishing combine?

Happily, D. Allen Jenkins is obviously the real genuine article -- indeed the ideal person, equipped with all the necessary knowledge and background to write a gripping (if sometimes horrifyingly realistic) novel about real people in real situations. Terrible situations, alas, but as real as yesterday's newspaper headlines. The characters in "The Making of Tibias Ivory" are alive. They breathe, they live in hope, they suffer, they die, they triumph. They grab hold of the reader, take him by the hand, grasp his heart and imprint themselves indelibly upon his mind.

What's more, the author doesn't stop at creating engrossing characters. In addition to his cast of acutely-observed, three-dimensional people, Jenkins has crafted a milieu and a town (ironically called "Principle") every bit as stridently unrelenting in its hatreds and prejudices as William Faulkner's "Jefferson" (actually Oxford, Miss.) featured in such novels as "Go Down, Moses" and "Intruder in the Dust".

If anything, Jenkins' "The Making of Tibias Ivory" is a more powerful piece of writing. Like Faulkner, Jenkins' aim is -- through the sustained use of contrast -- to express the universal values of love, honor, sympathy, compassion and sacrifice. In this debut novel, he succeeds brilliantly.

Site Design & Maintenance provided by abitosunshine
All Rights Reserved.

Art is ©Billy Alexander and is used with permission.
All Rights Reserved.

All poetry & writings, photos & graphics are copyrighted.
Please respect my wishes that they not be used,
Nor be removed from these pages for any reason,
Without the written permission of myself and/or the artist.
Your cooperation is appreciated.
©2009 - Present, Reviews 4 Reviews
All rights reserved.

[Back to top of page]