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Kathleen Hall
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Livonia | The Whitest City (Detroit Eight Series Book 2) Kindle Edition

by Kathleen Hall (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 23 ratings
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Two years after the biggest race riot in U.S. history, Detroit was fast becoming one of the blackest cities in America. A few miles west, Livonia was one year away from being crowned the whitest city in America. The Detroit Eight decided it was time to 'move behind enemy lines' and infiltrate the burbs.

Behind picket fences, beneath a sheath of quiet civility, The Eights begin to uncover the sinister underbelly—violence, corruption, oppression and racial hysteria. Power brokers crop up everywhere. They wear suits, neatly pressed aprons, hold respectable jobs, host fundraisers and move unseen in polite society. Amid the freshly painted houses and carefully groomed lawns, Maggie and Sam find themselves embroiled in the apartheid of fear and the high-stakes dismantling of Detroit.

Racism might have been the match, but the fire looks more like greed as mysteries unwind. The mafia's calling card is everywhere. The cops, neighbors and women's league are less than welcoming. What about the Eights? Maggie's missing French-Canadian radical, activist parents? The legendary Oz? Where do they fall within the tremor of underground forces between darkness and light?
Previous page
  1. Book 2 of 3
    Detroit Eight Series
  2. Print length
    193 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    August 2, 2018
  6. File size
    1854 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07G5JD97B
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Collaborative Options (August 2, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 2, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1854 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 193 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 23 ratings

About the author

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Kathleen Hall

Kathleen Hall

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Born in Detroit, Kathleen Hall co-authored the award-winning non-fiction THE OTHERNESS FACTOR, before launching into historical fiction with The Detroit Eight Trilogy:

1. IF THE MOON HAD WILLOW TREES

2. LIVONIA | The Whitest City

3. ONE WINGBEAT AWAY

A writer, poet, lawyer, mediator and workplace investigator, Kathleen's lifelong activism has been devoted to championing equal rights and promoting the power of diversity. She lives in Austin, Texas with her partner, Loren, herds of deer roaming the streets, red foxes sunbathing in their miniature backyard, and armadillos tottering across the driveway.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
23 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Brian
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2022
Verified Purchase
Such an easy, exciting read!! Can’t wait for Hall’s next series!!
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sherry jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Livonia
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2020
Verified Purchase
Excellent read, thought provoking book. Love that it's fictional but real enough to make you think about the subject matter.
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Lee
4.0 out of 5 stars Action and purpose with a mystery thrown in!
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2018
I'm totally hooked and can't wait for it to be continued. The characters are portrayed so real in their personalities where their purpose is validated throughout the book. The mystery is minutely unfolding...I'm anxious for Book Three!
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Adam Mahler
4.0 out of 5 stars Need more!
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2018
I'm addicted to this story. It's all so well written i need to know what happens next! Thank you so much for writing these books!
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Story Circle Book Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Civic rights, 1970's
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2018
Livonia continues the saga of Maggie and Sam, two idealistic white adults beginning their family life in Detroit and Livonia, a suburb which was and continues to be one of the whitest cities in America, while Detroit continues to be the blackest. Their story is a rich tapestry of plots and counter plots woven together during the struggle for civil rights in America, using an authentic background with the songs, the brands, and the human behavior of the late 1960's and early 1970's. This time frame includes the assassination of both Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Central to the story is that Maggie and Sam are invited to be "the highly esteemed whites" in the Detroit black civil rights group, "The Eights."

Livonia covers the time when Maggie and Sam and little Tekla move into the whitest city with the object of setting the stage for "integration in the "burbs" by inviting their black friends as guests into their home. They find this is not easy, when their kitchen window is broken by a rock with the message attached, "go home n.i.g.g.e.r-lovers." Woven into the main tapestry is the mystery of the disappearance of Maggie's French-Canadian parents when she was a child and Sam's being targeted as he is promoted to a position at work in which he can make a difference. What is "The Puzzle"? And what is this mysterious organization called Oz? Because the characters are trying to make sense of what is happening in their lives, we, the readers, may also be confused at the beginning.

The author's brain seems to fire in three directions at one time and she expects the reader to keep up. It is worth the effort. The writing is often lyrical and sometimes philosophical. Loretta, one of the black protagonists, says "I grew up thinking if people would just say what they mean and mean what they say we could get through all the bigotry and hate...[t]ruth is truth. The problem is how we get to truth..."

Towards the end of the book, Maggie is able to fill in many of the blanks and make sense of the larger, much larger, picture—and we are, too. Livonia is a complex novel in a complex time.

by Judith Helburn
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
One person found this helpful
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Nancy
1.0 out of 5 stars Slanderous book
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2020
All BS. I grew uo here. Kids ran free. Neighbors helped each other. We had Christmas Caroling Trick or Treating. School picnics. Block parties. Violence? Corruption, an underbelly? Soaping windows on Devils Night sure. Thats it. It was mostly white. So what? Are we to be shamed for that? Everyone worked, took care of their homes. If thats nad count me in
2 people found this helpful
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SKatz
1.0 out of 5 stars Did Not Hold My Interest
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2018
Did not hold my interest. My family was visiting Windsor when the Detroit riots broke out. We had to drive through it. If the author had experienced that she might realize there was a reason for white flight. Using your common sense and getting out of a bad neighborhood does not make you a racist. So tired of the same old arguments.
3 people found this helpful
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KK
5.0 out of 5 stars Does place define people or do people define place?
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2018
For a coming of age historical novel, the Eights are growing up, raising families and solving mysteries. Don't leap to conclusions about the book's title. In fact, don't assume there are only two sides to racism or any other ism.. Who stood to gain fro white flight? Does place define people or do people define place? Is truth an either or proposition? Hall takes the readers on some real and imagined trips, leaving it up to us to attribute values, beliefs, biases. Don't be fooled. There are few, if any, true and false questions. Certainly, no easy answers. The audacity and energy of the cast of characters pulls you in and keeps you company through this rough terrain. They become your friends. Ultimately, readers will decide where to plant their poles.
One person found this helpful
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