Author Bebe Moore Campbell

"Seventy Two Hour Hold is the story of Keri, a woman caught up in a love triangle between her ex-husband and her actor boyfriend. Her world is shattered when her beloved child develops a mental illness. Unable to get the help she needs from the mental health system, Keri joins forces with the volatile Bethany, whose daughter is also unstable. Fed up, the two take to the road in search of the healing for their children promised by a band of radical underground mental health workers. Their arduous journey tries their souls in every way imaginable but ultimately leads both women to a greater understanding of what it means to love unconditionally."

In speaking of Bebe Moore Campbell's work, Maya Angelou writes, “I am grateful for Bebe Moore Campbell . . . Campbell fearlessly unveils the pain of loss and the ecstasy of love. Add to that courage, and the graceful ability to write very, very well.” This testimony, in a nutshell, describes Campbell 's latest novel, 72 Hour Hold.

Campbell is known for writing spectacular stories about African American families that have become unhinged and are falling apart at the seams in a whirlwind of faith, love and determination. In 72 Hour Hold, she takes the subject of mental illness in the Black community and gives you a read worth the sweat. Keri is a determined mother, hell-bent on saving Trina, her vulnerable daughter, from herself. Trina suffers from bi-polar disorder and her behavior is wild, crazy, violent and dangerous. At the age when the bright young woman, a National Merit Scholar, should be packing for college, she is being admitted to the mental health unit of a hospital in total denial of her illness. Her divorced mother does not know what has happened to her perfect, pretty, obedient child. Trina's father thinks that money will solve all of the problems of the world is in equal denial of his daughter's illness and Keri finds herself fighting this battle all on her own.

The privileged child of two upscale middle class parents, Trina's life was not supposed to be like this. She refuses to take her medication and runs wild as her brain plays havoc with her survival. Mental illness among African Americans is on the rise. And while statistics show that the problem is quite prevalent, the community-at-large tends to hide it ashamedly and blame the problem on everything but the truth. Mental illness is a sickness, as serious as cancer and HIV infection but it is not afforded the acceptance and support of the society in which it ravages the very young and continues its deadly path for years to come, giving families of these ill individuals a place in their very own hell.

Ms. Moore tells the story in the fictionalized account of these families in crisis but the true facts are blatant and can not be ignored. This bittersweet love story brought tears to my eyes. Anyone who has managed to live through terror and shame will sympathize with Moore 's characters that are real and true to life. Keri does what she has to do to save her child and learns in the end that she must accept life as it is and not as she would like for it to be. A bitter lesson to learn that is written with empathy and a powerful tribute to the resiliency of the human spirit.

BeBe Campbell Moore scores even higher on the literary scale with this novel. It was a book that I could not put down. This is a book that you want to read.