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Cover art: Rafael Leonardo Black \u2022 Paths of Sanctuary<\/em> is a magic-realism novel which traces the life of an African-American family from enslavement in 1786 through post reconstruction to its eventual settling in Sanctuary, a small mountain village situated geographically just below the first gates of heaven. The novel centers on the forbidden commingling of the people of clay (humans) with the people of fire (angels) and the friction that occurs whenever two bordering cultures co-exist. Told in an almost lyrical narrative, Paths of Sanctuary explores the hidden complexities discovered within family, including the trials found within infidelity, friendship and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt times his writing is so lyrical you are easily swept away by the beauty of his words. The world he has created is full of magical-realism, colorful, interesting characters worth rooting for, and a litany of sub-plots that often commands more attention than the main plot. And, the third-person, exposition-heavy narrative allows readers to observe characters from various points of view.\u2014\u201d AALBC Jill Robinson<\/p>\n\n\n\n The human characters are utterly human and equally flawed. Those flaws and a variety of misunderstandings all drive the story toward an inevitable series of tragedies. Bracy\u2019s prose is both mystical and muscular and therefore utterly appropriate. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries but not for \u201cgentle readers.\u201d<\/em>\u2014Library Journal Jim Dwyer<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBracy depicts myriad aspects of African American family dynamics. This tragic novel delves back into the horrific slave trade and merges into present emancipation at the Gates of Heaven. The author creatively carves out mystical characters with names such as Dance, Time, Passage, and Silence. Each character\u2019s life exemplifies his or her name. This novel is filled with hints of voodoo and the paranormal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIssues surrounding marriage are depicted in this novel. The young couple is very happy at the beginning of their marriage. Dance is responsible and faithful, while Time is an industrious wife. Each one however, brings baggage into the marriage, and when life\u2019s pressures hit, the negative aspects of both emerge. Problems in this marriage include ineffective communication, listening to gossip, alcoholism, infidelity, and even incest.\u201d\u2014Multicultural Review Maxine Agazie<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPaths of Sanctuary is a magic-realism novel which traces the life of an African-American family from enslavement in 1786 through post reconstruction to its eventual settling in Sanctuary, a small mountain village situated geographically just below the first gates of heaven. The novel centers on the forbidden commingling of the people of clay (humans) with the people of fire (angels) and the friction that occurs whenever two bordering cultures co-exist. Told in an almost lyrical narrative, Paths of Sanctuary explores the hidden complexities discovered within family, including the trials found within infidelity, friendship and love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This novel works with both hands, a visionary work with a command of craft that ensures Ihsan Bracy\u2019s literary legacy, work that acclaims the craftsman a master and makes it all worthwhile. An exquisite post modern folkology, the novel every writer wants to write and every reader wants to read.\u201d \u2014Arthur Flowers, De Mojo Blues, Another Good Lovin\u2019 Blues, Confessions of a 21st Century Conjure Man<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cihsan bracy is a visionary wordsmith. In a story that spans both time and the imagination, he has managed to capture the most painful and yet the most beautiful of our experience, while gifting us with an epic, bordercrossing story that transcends the conventional, and leaves readers lifted. Thank you ihsan, for journeying on. Paths of Sanctuary is well worth the wait.\u201d \u2013 Sheree Renee Thomas, Editor of the Dark Matter Series<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBracy is a writer unafraid to enter the deepest night to find the brighter light within. In his invention, I see our own as Black Americans, a winding road through an emotional landscape, taking us from our rough arrival to new knowledge of self and destiny.\u201d\u2014 Terence Taylor, Dark Dreams, Voices from the Other Side, Whispers in the Night<\/em>, Bite Marks<\/p>\n\n\n\n CoolGrovePress is a recipient of the 2007-2008 Face Out Re-grant from the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses [CLMP] . The publication of Paths of Sanctuary has been possible in part due to this grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n EXCERPTS<\/p>\n\n\n\n chapter two<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0in the path of a-che<\/p>\n\n\n\n the red clay path runs from the shore uphill for nearly a quarter of a mile before opening unto a vista revealing the ancient city below.\u00a0 in the distance, salmon colored adobe walls rise alongside connecting red mud footpaths.\u00a0 in this season of fullness the purple skies glow in the warmth of a magenta sunset as spirit-boats return to shore, their white sails slack, their nets full, laden down with the catch of the day, drawn in by evening tides.\u00a0 sunset colors dance off spirit-guides dressed in white garb, gathering in the oncoming dusk.\u00a0 fires lit alongside the shore signal closing off of spirit-passageways as the business of yet another day eases towards its\u2019 end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n entering the gates of the spirit-women\u2019s compound carrying the infant close to her body, the elderly angel is met by a calling of sacred drums, ringing of ancient bells, the unison of many spirit-women chanting in meditation and the sound of spirit-children hard at play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n not long past the gates the path divides in two.\u00a0 one way traverses alongside a steep incline, across a shining bridge of fire and runs up towards a white domed clay compound sitting on a cliff overlooking and reflected in the quiet waters of a golden sea below.\u00a0 the other path forks along the compound wall for a short distance before opening onto a sprawling plateau.\u00a0 in between the trees small white mud adobe like structures dot the field of vision as far as the eye could see.\u00a0 as the spirit-woman reaches the yard of her dwelling she is suddenly surrounded by a growing number of spirit-children, fascination clear within their eyes as they silently join the growing and strange procession, clearly watching the bundle she carries with rapt attention.\u00a0 before opening the flap to enter her dwelling, the spirit-elder turns and pulls back her outer robes revealing the foundling to the community.\u00a0 the spirit-children gather around the baby amidst peals of laughter and exhaust their interest before suddenly turning as one and beginning to run downhill, following the path toward the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n -blessings of the ancestors upon you nana,<\/p>\n\n\n\n calls out the black, black spirit-sister crossing toward the spirit-elder and the foundling, trailed by a black, black spirit-child not yet six-years-old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n -and upon you too, ntoto<\/p>\n\n\n\n replies the spirit-elder,<\/p>\n\n\n\n -come, look at what mother ocean has given me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n the two spirit-women huddle around the foundling while the spirit-child keeps a distance, his eyes keenly focused on the bundle held just above his head.\u00a0 he doesn\u2019t follow all of their conversation but gathers somehow that the baby has been found and doesn\u2019t seem to belong to anyone.\u00a0 finally after pulling on his mother\u2019s garb twice, she focuses her full attention,<\/p>\n\n\n\n -what is it ladji?<\/p>\n\n\n\n he points until the spirit-elder brings the bundle down to eye level.\u00a0 he silently studies the foundling with a great intensity before folding his arms tightly across his near six-year-old chest, proudly declaring with simple conviction, a big smile and no hesitation,<\/p>\n\n\n\n -this my baby!<\/p>\n\n\n\n after another thought he adds,<\/p>\n\n\n\n -\u2026and we need to call her a-che.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AUTHOR<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ihsan Bracy Abdul-Rahiim<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0Sadly, following a long and unforgiving struggle with complications due to an advanced condition of diabetes, at an early hour on March 14th, 2009, our dear author and friend departed from this plane of existence. He is survived by his wife Islah Sah, daughter Zakiyyah, and sons Mustapha and Jihad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0A graduate of Bennington College, Ihsan Bracy was a former member of the New York State Council on the Arts and former chair of the Theatre Department of Talent Unlimited High School, NYC\u2019s second largest performing arts high school. \u00a0Ihsan\u2019s major educational credits include directing five Manhattan, three NYC and a third place National Shakespeare Championship as well as an ARTS National Finalist in Theatre. \u00a0A spoken word and Brooklyn based artist, Ihsan had performed all across the city including a long running appearance at The Triad as part of composer Michael Raye\u2019s Soul Gathering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Author of two volumes of poetry, cadre and the ubangi files, Ihsan had twice been a CAPS Finalist and had been elected to the New Renaissance Writer\u2019s Guild. Paths of Sanctuary was his second work of fiction with Cool Grove Press (Feb. 2008). His first book was Ibo Landing: an offering of short stories, (CGP 1998). \u00a0As artistic Director and Founder of The Tribe Ensemble, a multi-ethnic theater repertory company based out of the Jamaica Arts Center for thirteen years, Ihsan authored and directed Against the Sun, the Southampton Slave Revolt of 1831. \u00a0A former member of The Family (La Familia) Inc., his credits included prolonged theatre workshops at Bayview Correctional Facility for Women, the Spofford Home for Juveniles and Riker\u2019s Island, which culminated in a forty prison inner city tour. \u00a0Ihsan directed Juan Shamsul Alam\u2019s Benpires which received a Pulitzer Prize nomination in theatre. Ihsan also served as the Arts and Education Coordinator of The Mirror Repertory Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n a novel by ihsan bracy ISBN: 978-1-887276-49-8 \u2022 $ 14.95 Cover art: Rafael Leonardo Black \u2022 Paths of Sanctuary is a magic-realism novel which traces the life of an African-American […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7156,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[218,83,141,109],"tags":[164,165],"class_list":["post-5926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coolgrove-press-imprint","category-fiction","category-ihsan-bracy","category-paperback","tag-afro-futurism","tag-cross-border-fiction","post-design-default"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coolgrove.com\/books\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/FRONT-COVER-PATHS-OF-SANCTUARY-2019-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9wWvk-1xA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coolgrove.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coolgrove.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coolgrove.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolgrove.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolgrove.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5926"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/coolgrove.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9225,"href":"https:\/\/coolgrove.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5926\/revisions\/9225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolgrove.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coolgrove.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolgrove.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coolgrove.com\/books\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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