Mirika C Novels

Secret

Secret is the debut novel in this two part family saga, and the story goes a bit like this:

In the small, southern town of Louisville, GA, there is a scorned secret that has ripped through homes. Accursed is the whore that it came from, people around town say, but to a sassy, country girl named Secret, that’s not all to it. She asks herself, what curse, and what does it have to do with me? That’s when Secret takes matters into her own hands and attempts to solve the terrifying mystery of her family.

Read more of Secret here…

Colored Lily, Poppa Took My Innocence

Colored Lily, Poppa Took My Innocence is the second book in the saga, telling the story prior to the birth of Secret. Though it tells the story prior to the debut novel, it is written to be read second for the full effect of suspense, though some have read it vice versa for an effect of a moving drama. The story of Colored Lily, Poppa Took My Innocence is as follows:

What would a daughter want more from her father than his love? However, in the rural town of Louisville, Georgia, a teenage girl called by the name of Jocie, finds out how the love she once adored from her poppa can become twisted and feel so much like hatred, causing hell-grown wounds. Going on a search for the love that she yearns so deeply, Jocie winds up with worse than she bargained for, and without an escape, ends up in the midst of death, darkness, and a cold conception while gripping the darkest secret that only God in heaven can know and forgive.

Excerpts will be available again very soon. Thank you. Until then, read some reviews below.

REVIEWS

Secret is a novel filled with secrets. It’s an intriguing tale brilliantly weaved by Mirika Cornelius. Reminiscent of the strong talents of Alice Walker and VC Andrews, Secret skillfully describes the story of the title character, a young girl, who is scorned simply because of the circumstances of her birth. Her quest to find out who she is, is the basis of this super charged dramatic novel. The conclusion will startle you.
—-Natasha Usher, author of The Hunts

In a small Southern town, a little African-American child grows up without knowledge of her parentage, neither her father nor her mother. Raised by her great-great-aunt May, her grandmother’s sister, Secret is loved and cared for. But the deep and ever-present void in her life continually impels her to learn more about her past.

From a young age she has felt set off from others in the community, as if they knew her truths that she never has known. Every thread of knowledge on which she tries to pull to lead to a greater truth seems to tangle, or snap back in her face. Every door that partially opens slams shut. But Secret is stronger than that, and she won’t give up, no matter how many folks there her to leave well enough alone. She persists in discovering the identity of her mother, and finding out why her mother isn’t raising her. Secret is irrepressible, and the drive to know her mother forces her on until she uncovers the last few rocks and turns over the truth about her life, and her mother’s.

Secret is a compelling story which will linger in any reader’s mind long, long, after finally closing the book, and many readers will be moved to take it up later and read it again. The plot twists and turns like a winding river: sometimes Secret’s progress seems as slow as molasses dripping, and at other times events unfold as fast as white-water rapids. By the end of the book the reader has been presented a number of characters in great depth, and comes away with a true emotional understanding of each of them. Author Mirika Mayo Cornelius has a wonderful imaginative capacity, and a gift for plot, character, and descriptive setting, which is finely demonstrated in both Secret and its prequel, Colored Lily.
—-Annie Haws of Euro-Reviews 1/2007 – 5 STAR EXCELLENT

Secret is told in the first person by a young girl, 7 years old when we meet her and 14 at the end of the book. Initially her concerns are fairly typical for a bright third grader, and it is surprising how quickly we are drawn into her little world and learn to care whether she retrieves her shoes from her friend, etc. When the story begins to darken, the reader is hooked.

In spite of the evil of her surroundings, Secret prevails through her innate goodness and strength, and her unshakeable faith in Jesus. This is an essentially hopeful story, with well drawn characters and a finely woven plot. A “prequel” is in the works, and hopefully many more stories from this very promising young author.

—- Patricia E. Fulton, a Chicago reader