Abide with Me
Authors: E. Lynn Harris
E
.
LYNN HARRIS
’
s
Abide With Me
“Filled with sensuality, deception, friendship and love.”
—
Ebony
“Breezy, bighearted entertainment.”
—
Entertainment Weekly
“Anyone interested in the complexities of characters dealing with relationships and reconciliation has to pick up a copy of E. Lynn Harris’s
Abide With Me
. It’s the perfect cap for the trilogy that began with
Invisible Life
and continued with
Just As I Am
. Compulsively readable.”
—
The Advocate
“Harris skillfully crafts a story of secrets and seduction, which should satisfy his longtime fans and enlist new ones.”
—
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Phenomenal.… E. Lynn Harris is a literary genius!”
—
Spokesman
“Harris’s ensemble of characters—gay or straight—are entertaining, outspoken, and colorful. But more importantly, the Arkansas-raised author’s themes of love, friendship, family, and intimacy are universal.”
—
Black Issues Book Review
E. LYNN HARRISAbide With Me
E. Lynn Harris is a former IBM computer sales executive and a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He is the author of eight novels:
A Love of My Own
,
Any Way the Wind Blows
,
Not a Day Goes By
,
Abide with Me
,
If This World Were Mine
,
And This Too Shall Pass
,
Just As I Am
, and
Invisible Life
and a memoir,
What Becomes of the Brokenhearted
.
In 2004,
Not a Day Goes By
was made into a nationally touring theatrical production. In 1996, 2002, and 2003,
Just As I Am, Any Way the Wind Blows
, and
A Love of My Own
were named Novel of the Year by the Blackboard African American Bestsellers, Inc.
If This World Were Mine
,
Abide with Me
,
Any Way the Wind Blows
, and
A Love of My Own
were nominated for NAACP Image Awards.
If This World Were Mine
won the James Baldwin Award for Literary Excellence. Harris was named one of the fifty-five “Most Intriguing African Americans” by
Ebony
for four consecutive years, including 2003. In 2002, Harris was included in
Savoy
magazine’s “100 Leaders and Heroes in Black America.” He was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2000. Harris divides his time between Atlanta, Georgia, and Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he is currently Writer in Residence at the University of Arkansas and has served as advisor and cheer coach for the Razorback cheerleaders.
INVISIBLE LIFE
JUST AS I AM
AND THIS TOO SHALL PASS
IF THIS WORLD WERE MINE
NOT A DAY GOES BY
ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS
A LOVE OF MY OWN
WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKENHEARTED
FIRST ANCHOR BOOKS EDITION, MAY 2000
Copyright
©
1999 by E. Lynn Harris
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Anchor Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 1999.
Anchor Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the Doubleday edition as follows: Harris, E. Lynn.
Abide with me: a novel / by E. Lynn Harris. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Sequel to: Just as I am.
1. Afro-Americans— Fiction. I. Title.
PS3558.A64438 A35 1999
813′.54—dc21 98-48974
eISBN: 978-0-307-83176-7
Author photograph
©
Matthew Jordan Smith
v3.1
This novel is dedicated to three magnificent people
Martha K. Levin for changing the course of my life, and then becoming a treasured friend
Blanche Richardson, the best friend a writer (or anyone) could ever be blessed with
Rodrick L. Smith (a.k.a. Everick) for friendship, and an abiding love I can depend on
In Loving Memory
Maye F. Raymond (Aunt Maye)
Colton Delano Sledge
Rosa Hilda Brown
Acknowledgments
I am grateful for God’s grace and blessings amid life’s quiet storms. I am thankful for my family, for their support of my life and writing career, and most especially my mother, Etta Harris, and my aunt, Jessie L. Phillips.
I am thankful to all my friends, both old and new, who always understand when I lock myself away from the world to write my novels. Special thanks to the ladies who’ve been my support system for over two decades: Lencola Sullivan, Vanessa Gilmore, Regina Daniels, Cindy Barnes, Robin Walters, Tracey Huntley, and to the new ladies in my life: Debra Martin Chase, Deanna Williams, Yolanda Starks, and Sybil Wilkes. To the men in my life: Rodrick L. Smith, Carlton Brown, Troy Danato, Kevin Edwards, Tim Douglas, Anthony Bell, and my new friend and brother, Brent Zachery.
I am also thankful for the friends whose vast information helped tremendously with this novel: the beautiful and talented Broadway diva Brenda Braxton, Adrian Bailey (Mister triple threat), and Brian
Evert Chandler (the best Curtis Taylor, Jr. I’ve seen on the stage). To the casts of
Smokey Joe’s Café
and the most recent national touring company of
Dreamgirls
, special thanks for showing me so much love. Thanks also to Tracey Davis of Wichita, Kansas, for the Jackson information and support.
Special shout-outs to my brothers and sisters who write wonderful books (especially my sisterfriend Julia Boyd for your information about Seattle). A special shout to a woman who has become near and dear to my heart, Iyanla Vanzant. I thank you, Iyanla, for your friendship and wonderful writing, but more importantly your powerful prayers during my stormy days and those filled with sun. You are amazing!
A standing ovation for my support team: my agents, John Hawkins, Moses Cardona, and Irv Schwartz (three of the best in the business); Laura Gilmore (the best assistant in the world); my attorneys, Amy Goldson and my uncle, Councilman Charles E. Phillips; and my accountant, Bob Braunschweig. I also would like to thank my haircutting brothers, who are also great friends, Shannon Jones (Chicago) and Anderson Phillips (Scissors New York).