Tears Before Exaltation
When Ben Ava, a struggling medical student facing insurmountable financial worries, receives a scholarship offer for a Medical Center in Memphis, he thinks that his tenuous future is finally secure. But Ben’s past will not leave him alone. His fellow scholarship winner is his old friend Brenda—a young medical student with extraordinary talent whose troubled past has made her self-destructive and dangerous. In Memphis, their lives become increasingly tangled as Ben is pulled into Brenda’s orbit. Soon, he finds himself risking his medical education, his new romance, and his entire future in the hopes of steering himself and Brenda through the tumult of their shared loneliness and trauma.
Tears Before Exaltation is a literary drama about coping with the past, surviving the present, and the blurred lines between courage and insanity, hate and love.
Reviews
“Tears before Exaltation is an engaging story that won’t leave you indifferent, a page-turner that will keep you reading eagerly until the end.”
—Consuelo Murgia
“In his new novel Tears before Exaltation, Fidelis O. Mkparu’s literary growth is evident as he delves deeper into matters only touched on in his previous novel, Love’s Affliction. His characters are dealing with realistic issues that you and I can identify with, but with a twist of suspense, curiosity and intrigue. Packed with pathos, the impact of Fidelis O. Mkparu, Tears Before Exaltation, will stay with you long after you put it down. Fidelis O. Mkparu has written yet another worthwhile read.”
—Kayron El-Kildani, Michigan Book Club
“The story of the relationships between the doctor character and Brenda is captivating and easily draws the reader into a narrative that successfully blends social, economic, intercultural, and interracial issues. This book is part of a literary production which is very important and deserves both critical attention and analysis.”
—Babacar M’Baye, PhD, Professor, Kent State University, author of The Trickster Comes West
“Tears before Exaltation is a suspenseful book that drives the readers in high gear sparking curiosity and a craving for more.”
—Patrick Achebe, Author of Whispering Waves
“The writing is contemporary and compassionate, tackling highly relevant social issues such as mental illness, including alcoholism and depression. The story has an engaging pace that makes it hard to put down with twists and excitement that will leave you wanting more. Readers who enjoy intrigue, drama, and romance, set in the medical field, will quickly find themselves immersed this novel.”
—Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (02/18)