Burnita Bluitt’s ‘Quiver of the Pure Heart’ is one of the few novels on the market to shine a very urgent real-world spotlight on the topic of gentrification and urban displacement. However, heroine Blis Dumas quickly learns that she faces things that are far more complicated than just relocation. The discovery of family secrets reveals that the problems being created by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency are chillingly personal, with forgiveness and compassion about to become her weapons of choice.
In 1948, San Francisco’s Fillmore District was designated a redevelopment area, sparking tumultuous decades in which, according to city officials, 883 businesses were shuttered, 4,729 households were forced out, and roughly 2,500 Victorian homes were demolished. While this unfortunate gentrification may sound like a historical mistake, metro cities across the nation are currently facing similar fates. It’s a subject that rarely makes it into fiction, but one Burnita Bluitt tackles with gusto in her latest novel.
‘Quiver of the Pure Heart’ is intimately told through the eyes of Blis Dumas, a young San Francisco woman who discovers she is forced to sell her home to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. But all isn’t as it seems; and emotions are about to run higher than she could ever have expected as her family’s past comes back to haunt her.
Synopsis:
Twenty-eight year old Blis Dumas’ peaceful life and sense of security becomes the target of a well-crafted scheme. The setting is 1989 San Francisco, and Blis fears a repeat of the 1950-60s, redevelopment that took place displacing primarily African-American residents from the Western Addition’s Fillmore District, their “Harlem of the West.” Her world crumbles as she is notified that her own Victorian home, inherited from her grandfather, is in jeopardy of demolition by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and she must sell to them…or so she thinks. She uncovers family secrets that reveal her problem is much closer to home.
Blis fights to save the home she adores; fights the temptation of an incorrigible former lover; and fights the threat to a tender, new, budding romance. Blis loves San Francisco, but like any love relationship, it is where her emotions will be tested, where passions will live and die, and where people are not always as they seem. QUIVER OF THE PURE HEART will appeal to readers that appreciate domestic settings to illuminate the universal themes of forgiveness, compassion, and letting go.
“Blis is a microcosm of the fear, pain and love that exists in everyone, along with their innate ability to overcome it,” explains Bluitt. “These emotions and coping strategies are called on by everyone falling victim to gentrification, and I believe my novel is the first to depict love and loss from this unique perspective.”
Continuing, “It’s a historical and present epidemic in many areas and presents a huge test to each individuals’ tenacity and strength. Those who thought they had neither often discover that they are incredibly strong and resilient. But I’m not saying it’s easy; far from it. I hope my work raises awareness of the grassroots struggles faced by those being displaced. It’s a toxic issue rarely addressed.”
With the book’s popularity expected to be high, interested readers are urged to purchase their copies as soon as possible after the book’s publication.
‘Quiver of the Pure Heart’ is due for release on October 1, 2014.
For more information, news and to view the book’s video trailer, visit: http://burzonline.com.
