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Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad | 
 enlarge | Author: Betty De Ramus
Publisher: Atria
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy Used: $0.94
You Save: $13.06 (93%)
New (38) Used (32) Collectible (2) from $0.94
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 353149
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 0743482646
Dewey Decimal Number: 973
EAN: 9780743482646
ASIN: 0743482646
Publication Date: December 27, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy!
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Product Description
Forbidden Fruit is a collection of fascinating, largely untold tales of ordinary men and women who faced mobs, bloodhounds, bounty hunters, and bullets to be together -- and defy a system that categorized blacks not only as servants, but as property.Here you'll meet, among other extraordinary characters, a fugitive slave from Virginia who spends seventeen years searching for his wife. A Georgia slave couple that sails for England with federal troops trailing behind. A white woman who falls in love with her deceased husband's slave. A young slave girl who is delivered to her fiancé inside a wooden chest. Acclaimed journalist Betty DeRamus gleaned these anecdotes from descendants of runaway slave couples, unpublished memoirs, Civil War records, census data, magazines, and dozens of previously untapped sources. This is a book about people pursuing love and achievement in a time of hate and severely limited opportunities. Though not all of the stories in Forbidden Fruit end in triumph, they all celebrate hope, passion, courage, and triumph of the human spirit.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
These May Not Be What You Are Expecting September 17, 2008
These are not "stories" persay. There is no dialogue or charachter development. The book is all narrated. Rather, they are historical and factual accounts of slaves' lives (that involve escaping or other HUGE sacrifices or risks--done for the sake of love). The author has done alot of research and the accounts are very good and very heavy on history. She gives alot of dates and information about legislation/laws and social atmosphere. I do highly recommend this book--if you are looking for what I described.
amazing writing, amazing book October 22, 2007
This book is so well written that I felt like I was right there as the stories unfolded. Betty has great skill at this. I live in the metro area where she wrote for the local daily paper. She is so talented and this book needs to be read by anyone interested in this era. Extraordinary book.
Not Just Love Stories but History Too! June 30, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book contains not only love stories, but inspiring stories of faith, strength, endurance and resilience as well as stories of suffering and heartache. The book is written by a jouralist which is evident in the historical details of the unfolding stories. I found it interesting, entertaining , informative and educational. I am a minister and used it in a Bible study on the subject of "eros."
The price of love May 8, 2006
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
FORBIDDEN FRUIT: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad by Betty DeRamus is an earth-shaking book of short stories about what African Americans were willing to do to keep their loved ones in their lives. In "The Special Delivery Package," a female slave, Lear Green, was willing to have herself shipped in a sailor's chest to the north to meet her husband-to-be. With no food, water and scant air, she traveled 18 hours to Philadelphia. James Smith, "A Love Worth Waiting For," was beaten bloody on several occasions as he attempted to escape to the wife he'd been sold away from. A black overseer heard him praying for him and the white men who abused him and was so moved that he unchained Smith so that he could finally successfully escape. Isaac Berry, of "Hound Dogs Hate Red Pepper," put red pepper in his shoes to throw the dogs off his scent as he rushed toward the north. There were many people, including those of the Underground Railroad, who helped him in his escape. The Underground Railroad, operating at the peril of the conductors, rushed slaves seeking freedom across the US border into Canada because the Fugitive Slave laws frequently made it dangerous, if not impossible, for them to find peace even in the northern United States.
All of the stories were heart wrenching and it made you wonder if you would have the strength, the persistence, the nerve, that these early Africans had to pursue love at any cost. The tales also brought to the forefront the tragedies that our ancestors survived daily: beatings, being sold from family and friends, early death from abuse, starvation and terror. Ms. DeRamus brings the stories of these brave people alive and puts it in your face where you can't hide. She awakens the sleeping and lost history of the brave people of Africa and what it took for them to survive. It is an excellent read, smooth and enticing, bringing forth not only the history, but the bravery of the displaced Africans of yesteryear. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand what slavery was really all about.
Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Forbidden Fruit: love stories from the underground railroad September 13, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I was hooked on this one when I picked it up. I was just going to read a paragraph or two to see how it reads. The next thing I knew the phone was ringing, and when I answered the phone, I realized that I had been reading for a couple of hours. I had to control my urges to pick up the book when I had appointments or other things I needed to do first. It is a really interesting read. And it reads well also.
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