The Legend of the Black Rose

by D.C. Cowan

The Legend of the Black Rose follows the descendants of an African Princess stolen from her homeland. It's a story of a forbidden love divided by ages. One accident will tear one family apart, but will bring together age-old lovers in the most unusual way. A great love story of ancestral beings driven from their homeland and doomed to wander as restless spirits.

Should the Black Rose choose to be labeled in history as a slave who was stolen from her homeland or should she claim her destiny as a wise and comforting spirit destined to protect her lost and fading lineage? Is she the slave of the Americans or the princess of the Africans? These questions are for you, the reader, to discern. Follow the ancestral spirits lost and outcast from time as they determine their proper place and identity. As you read, ask yourself who is the Black Rose?

389 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2014

About the author

Two authors, a mother and daughter, write under the name D. C. Cowan. The Legend of the Black Rose and The Children of Kara Series was written by Cowan, Sr. over thirty years ago. She is a graduate of the prestigious Spelman College in Atlanta, GA where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. With quiet tenacity, Cowan has been writing her books for over thirty years. A pillar to her community, she was a director for many years at a local recreation center and at her local church she taught Sunday School and received recognition from the members for her contributions.

As a youth, Cowan, Jr. performed for six years as a pre-professional ballerina with the Asheville Civic Ballet. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University known to some as the "Ivy League of the South" with a degree in Psychology. For the 2008 commencement, she was awarded as Best Senior Orator for her speech. For two years, she attended a graduate program for Psychology where she joined the Psi Chi Honor Society and received Graduate Student Awards for Research and Travel. Her most recent position was at the Johns Hopkins Health System. She is the author of the Angelic Heroes Trilogy, Elemental Angel Series and My Amoretto. Eventually she would like to drop fiction books and start graphic novels.

Reviews

[D.C. Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bear the same name as the author, but I'm actually not the real author of the Legend of the Black Roses. It was written over thirty years ago, but was never published by the author. The story is very unique in many ways. It's hard to find a book that's similar to it, at least within the books written by and about African Americans. I compare it to the book Kindred, not because the stories are similar, but by what they portray. Kindred tells the world what would happen if a modern African American female was taken from her life and sent into the past. But what if an African princess was ripped from her homeland, forced into slavery, and is somehow lost in time as well. This is the real mystery of the story. How does the spirit of an African princess become a disembodied spirit? Don't worry; I haven't spoiled anything with this review. There are many twists and turns in the first novel and hopefully the series to come that keeps the story interesting.

[Andrea Luhman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book through the book arc in exchange for an honest review. I made it through one third of the book before giving it up. I did not finish it for several reasons, but mostly a poorly executed narrative.
Why I didn’t like what I was reading:
1) I didn’t connect with the any of the characters. The omnipotent point of view dipped into various character points of view on occasion. Otherwise the narrative was action driven with very little connecting the reader to the people being observed.
2) The dialog was contrite. When it wasn’t contrite it was just painfully bad. The occasional body movements that accompanied the dialog only made these scenes even worse.
3) The plot. It falls apart quickly and my stomach turned when a little boy crawled into a strange seventy year old mans lap in a hospital cafeteria. When the little boys mother starts having relations with the seventy-year-old man because a ghost cohabitating her body wants to give the old man a child, I couldn’t read anymore. If the narrative were better or I felt some kind of attachment to the characters I may have been able to suspend my disbelief, but I wasn’t enjoying it enough to go there.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know I got this for free in exchange for a review, but I was dissapointed. I loved the description and liked the cover. However this was hard to read. Not necessarily bad but hard and time consuming. Unfortunately after 3 attempts and numerous page flipping back and forth I finally finished. Though in order for me to understand it I really should read it again. I just don't have the time or patience. I like to think I am smart, but maybe because I read so fast I caused myself to flip back and forth. The book actually took me several days to get though. This size book should have taken me less than a day.

[Kish Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great premise, and a great storyline. Love the writers' catalog of work, and I hope that this writing team keeps writing. I even have a hard copy of this novel, so it is among my favorite 'books on the shelf'.
Great book!