What Doesn't Kill You

“I really thought I had a handle on life—then it broke off.”

Straight-talking and witty, Tee is a fly forty-something. Divorced since her daughter was young, Tee has been “handling her business,” and she’s done all right. Organized, responsible and loyal, Tee went from being the first employee of a start-up purveyor of organic lotions to the right-hand of the president of what became a major player in the home and personal fragrance market.

But then everything changes and for he first time in 25 years, Tee doesn’t know who she is or what she’s going to do. She spent her life investing her hopes and dreams in someone else’s. Now it’s her chance to invest in herself. Can she step out on faith and a dream?

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A story as big as New York City itself. Enter the world of Uptown where you'll find a prominent New York family strained to the breaking point by the high stakes Manhattan Real Estate Industry…....

After twenty years of Foreign Service abroad, Avery Lyons returns to New York when her mother and uncle suffer a serious car accident. The tragedy brings the family together, but Avery is not happy about reuniting with her cousin, Dwight, from whom she has been estranged since the fallout over a college scandal. Avery no longer recognizes the tony, prestigious neighborhood of her childhood but the same old family dynamics and secrets are all too familiar. ....

Heir to a real estate empire, Dwight is willing to do anything to realize his aging and demanding father's dream: Dixon Plaza, a luxury high-rise development on Central Park North, the last undeveloped border of the city's famed emerald park. There's only one thing in his way: Avery has inherited a share of the property Dwight needs. She's more than willing to sell until she starts dating a reporter on a mission to uncover the truth behind the rumored shady dealings surrounding the complex. ....

A poignant exploration of one woman's quest for identity and the true price of greed, politics, unfettered ambition--- and forgiveness. Prepare for a steamy, provocative, sexy, turbulent read…

"DeBerry and Grant capture timely and increasingly universal themes with this dramatic, epic and often tragic story of triumph and failure."

--Publishers Weekly

". . .relatable characters we either love, or love to hate; contemporary issues that are pertinent to those of us who care about our people and our heritage; and a strong believable plot infused with passionate conflict---ALL set in Harlem, a place which still holds the aroma of Langston Hughes' dreams: "What happens to a Dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun . . . or does it explode?"

--Angela Reid
Imani Literary Group

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