REVIEW: The Game Changer by Embassie Susberry
Sometimes making history means breaking some rules…
This is a gripping historical fiction novel about bravery, hard work, the quest for success and two women’s stand against prejudice in all its forms.
New York, 1950. Ambitious journalist Hettie Carlin is reeling from a scandal and desperate for a scoop to salvage her career. When her boss tasks her with covering the meteoric rise of Althea Gibson, the tennis world’s newest star, there’s just two problems: Hettie knows nothing about tennis. Plus, her and Althea have a history – and it’s not pretty.
Hettie must convince a media-sceptic Althea Gibson to allow Hettie back into her life, and it won’t be an easy feat. But, as Althea’s star rises and she challenges the status quo, she faces media bias, tennis establishment prejudice, and discrimination head-on – and Althea soon realises she may just need Hettie, too, in order to tell her own story on her own terms.
When Althea becomes an unexpected civil rights icon, the pair realise their partnership transcends tennis, holding the potential to change history. If they can work together, they may just help revolutionize more than just the sport once and for all…
Don’t miss the powerful new historical fiction novel Inspired by the incredible true story of Althea Gibson, the first Black athlete to win a Grand Slam title in 1956.
AUTHOR’S NOTE – Please be advised that historically accurate terminology has been used, which by today’s standard would be considered offensive.
Dear Ms. Susberry,
I noticed this gorgeous cover and then looked to see what it was about and who wrote it. When I saw your name, I automatically requested it. I gulped it down in two days, appreciating that it’s not quite what I was expecting from the blurb.
Hettie Carlin is back from Montgomery where she was covering the Bus Boycott and where she also caused a disaster. Needing something big to salvage her journalistic career, she pitches an idea to her boss to cover Althea Gibson’s campaign to win Wimbledon and Forest Hills. Hettie might have fudged a bit regarding her knowledge of sports in general and tennis particular. She might also have stretched the truth about her “friendship” with Althea who is anything but pleased to see Hettie after so many years.
With the help of a man she’s maybe dating, Hettie works to win Althea’s permission to tag along and interview her over the course of a year. But Hettie’s (spin doctor-ish) attempts to help Althea’s public image as well as get her to speak up against the racism Althea has faced hit the brick wall of Althea’s disapproval. Will Hettie cross a moral line in her quest or learn something about herself along the way?
I love the historical details in the story. The clothes, the cars, the family relationships (I love Hettie’s grandmother) and dynamics. But not everything is wonderful. During a road trip across the South, Checkov’s gasoline and time of day highlight the everyday dangers that African Americans (period terms are used in the book) face even when they have a Green Book with them. Despite the fact that Althea is winning tournaments and after she is ranked first in the US, she still faces racism and barriers due to her being African American.
After Hettie returns from Alabama, her roommates twit her about Mr. Pasta and Mr. Fried Rice, among others. Turns out Hettie has standing weekly dates with certain men who always take her to certain restaurants. The man who intrigues Hettie the most is “Lewis” – the steakhouse man. After listening to him pour out his heart for ages about his ex-wife, Hettie realizes that she’s more attached to this man than any of the others. One night she speaks her mind and to her amazement, she learns more about this mysterious man who then comes to her aid and helps her in many ways. Hettie has to grapple with how much she wants to remain a reporter and what she’s willing to do in order to do that. Lewis gives her some sound advice even if he’s slightly appalled at some of Hettie’s tactics.
This then is for me the main part of the book. Hettie’s under pressure to get Althea to say something publicly to help her public image with African Americans and that Hettie can use in a story. Althea has relentlessly refused to become a civil rights activist or make statements about racism even though she has been a victim of it. Althea tells Hettie that she wants to succeed on her own merits and in her own way. She feels she is an athlete and just wants to play tennis. The outcome doesn’t tie things up in a neat bow but I think both women learn something about themselves and stay true to what they feel is important to them. I also enjoyed Hettie’s romance with Lewis (and his daughter) and how Hettie ties him up in knots despite him not agreeing with all her stands.
This book taught me a lot about Althea Gibson through Hettie’s efforts to understand tennis, reach out to Althea, and then travel with her, learning how hard Althea works at her sport and what she faces from a public that either wants more from her or less of her – depending on their skin color. B+
~Jayne
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@Jayne, I’m going to ask this question because I’m fairly certain you didn’t write the blurb, and because I went to a lot of schools and have virtually no formal grounding in English grammar. Is the grammar in the following sentence – “Plus, her and Althea have a history…” – correct?
@LML: 1 – No, I didn’t write the blurb, 2 – I don’t think it’s correct but then I’m ancient and 3 – I’ve seen this “her and …” “him and …” a lot in recent years. Sigh …
@LML, that caught my eye, too.
@Jayne and Kareni, thanks.
I agree that the blurb has a grammatical error. It would have been so easy to avoid by changing the sentence only slightly: “Plus, she had a history with Althea – and it wasn’t pretty”.
Possibly I need to “get a life”, but I’m still thinking about this. What I’m having trouble accepting is that a paid professional writer prepared the blurb text with the goal of selling books. With an avalanche of traditionally published and self-published books, amazingly excellent and amazingly not to choose from, a grammar error in the advertising text does not inspire my confidence in the book itself.
@LML: I’ve also had things in blurbs that have put me off of reading a book so I understand.