A very enjoyable book to read as it had an amazing storyline which made the book hard to put down-as it was full of edge of your seat family drama.
I highly recommend this book. Very well written.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Net Galley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book read like a Lifetime drama. And I liked it. This is my first time reading Donna Hill and my read more from her. Family drama, intergenerational issues with a dash of romance.

I honestly selected this book on NetGalley because I saw a black woman with kinky curly hair on the cover.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dafina Books (Kensington Publishing Corp) for granting me access to this digital ARC.

This is a fast paced book by Donna Hill, where family secrets could make or break relationships. Zoie, an ambitious journalist, comes home after her grandmother's death and discovers the skeletons in the closet.
This story has its own mystery and twists and secrets but it also has Jackson, the perfect man for every woman. At least a woman can dream...
The author, Donna has concentrated this story on Zoie but the other characters Kimberly and Jackson also play their parts. Since this is a fast paced book, social issues are mentioned but not dealt further in the book. On the whole, it is romance+mystery+family and one perfect man = entertaining read on a wintery afternoon

I've read many of Donna Hill's books and enjoyed them, so when I saw this book, I wanted to read this one too! This book is like the movie Imitation of Life, and remind us all that what we think is buried will somehow find it's way to the surface. Zoie Crawford is living her ideal life in New York. She has a great career and is looking forward to moving up the ranks. However, with the passing of her grandmother, she is forced to face her past, which includes her mother, aunts, and old love, Jackson. While back home, she picks up another story for her newspaper, but this story isn't like the others, this one hits close to home. Being the journalist she is, she uncovers secrets that shake up her family and those she cares about.
I enjoyed reading this book and think fans of Donna HIll's will too. This book reminds us that family can behave the way they do because of misunderstandings.

Families always have secrets. And secrets have the power to heal--or hurt.
A House Divided is a page-turner. It’s a fast read that grabs you from the very beginning and holds your attention until the end. The characters are a bit unrealistic but the writing flows well.

Journalist Zoie Crawford had to leave New Orleans to finally make her own life. But when her grandmother Claudia's passes Zoie reluctantly returns home. Returning to New Orleans she discovers a stunning, secret that could skyrocket her career, but destroy another woman’s.

Professionally Zoie has always put the truth first. Now that the lines between the personal and professional blurs, she must face some tough questions. She has to decide if there is a way to expose the truth without hurting those she loves.

Loved the title. Loved the cover. Very strong beginning.
Jackson was a well-crafted character. He was a hero in so many ways and a stand-up guy. As for Zoie, I can understand drive and ambition but her motivation stemmed from selfishness and a disregard for others feelings. Will her attitude change? As for Zoie and Jackson's relationship - Their love was evident but love without mutual respect and communication is doomed. Will their love conquer all?
The most intriguing character was Kimberly. I wanted to see more of her. I felt as if I truly knew her and so was surprised by her decisions though her rationale was very realistic. I feel like there is more there for the author to bring out.
The best part of the book for me was some of the wise tidbits shared:
"If you give people a chance, you'll be surprised at how much they care. Folks show affection in all kinds of ways."
"Relationships are complicated. People need different things in their lives at different times."
"We do all kinds of things to protect the people we love. We don't always make the right decisions, but we do it out of love."
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

A HOUSE DIVIDED is general fiction that nicely combines family drama and contemporary romance. Hill manages to spend a sufficient amount of time developing both aspects in order to make the story flow well. The death of Zoie's grandmother brings her back to New Orleans and the family she has a strained connection to. Zoie's mother, Rose, represents both love and distress. Rose is a strong parent who loves Zoie, but she doesn't necessarily understand what drives Zoie. Zoie wants her family to understand and support her desire to be a successful journalist in New York, and is frustrated with their lack of interest in her career. She felt the need to leave New Orleans and all of it's family obligations, that to Zoie, felt restrictive. For Rose, and many members of the family, it felt as if Zoie was rejecting where she came from and what makes her who she is.

When Zoie returns home she longs for her family to recognize and acknowledge the up and coming woman that she has become, but is disappointed that they still see the young, overzealous, and slightly ungrateful girl that left. Zoie, for her part, could have been more understanding and considerate of her family too. The death of her grandmother is what brings her back home, and it's her grandmother's will that leads Zoie to finding out more than she could have imagined about her family's true history and her grandmother's legacy. To add to all of this, Hill also weaves in the return of a past love that could prove to be a key piece to Zoie's overall happiness.

A HOUSE DIVIDED could easily have been a much longer book, but Hill kept the story tightly woven and didn't allow for too much meandering down secondary storylines. I would have enjoyed some of the more complicated parts of the story being developed more. Although, there were parts that were cut short, I enjoyed the story overall.

This is a book about family secrets, relationships, ambition and race. The main charecter does not have a good relationship with her family which helped her to make the decision to move away. She is a journalist on the fast track to make all her career goals, when she is given a new assignment on a woman that is involved in politics. Also, she receives a call that makes her need to return home. This sets the stage for the family dynamics that are not good to come into play, a lost love, a good best friend and the main character having to make major decisions. A bombshell will make the lead character have to make a choice. Will she choose the choice that will advance her career or will she make the choice that does not help her career? This is my first time reading the author and while the book was good, there were some issues that I wish were given to the reader in more depth. Overall, I enjoyed the book and think this will be a good read for a book club. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

Disclaimer: I received an advance reader copy of this book through Net Galley’s Library Reads program. I am under no obligation to review the book. All opinions are my own.

While Donna Hill is most known for her romance novels, I really enjoy when she deviates from the genre. A House Divided intertwines Issues of race, class, and familial relationships with love lost and friendship. We are introduced to Zoie Crawford and the mysteries and secrets that lie in her family’s past. In the course of the novel Zoie finds answers to lifelong questions about her family and in so doing learns more about herself.

Although somewhat predictable, A House Divided adds a twist to the traditional family secret. The ending feels a little rushed and anticlimactic, but overall A House Divided is a pleasant read.

Always a pleasure to read books by this author. If this is your first time I suggest looking at the others.

Readers who enjoyed Small Great Things and Sycamore Row will also find literary pleasure in this work.

Captivating and well-written, Hill has created a stunning take on family relationships and the immense impact society's past indiscretions.

Highly recommended for interracial book clubs.

A House Divided is Donna Hill's solo novel about an up and coming journalist Zoie Crawford. Just as her career is taking off, she's called back home to New Orleans because her grandmother died. She's riddled with guilt the whole time since they were close but she never got around to visiting her since her ambitious nature wouldn't allow her the time off from work. Avoiding her family didn't help entice her to come home even with her grandmother's impending death.

Just when Zoie is ready to leave for New Orleans, a little bit of serendipity comes in the form of a new assignment handed down from her boss. She is to shadow the campaign of Kimberly Graham who hails from an elite New Orleans family. Convinced she can handle the new assignment and her grandmother Claudia's wishes upon her death, Zoie in turn begins to uncover some harrowing truths about her families' past. These revelations could cause a lot of damage for the two families involved.

A House Divided is not the first time I've been acquainted with this author. I've read a few books by Donna Hill as well as a few she co-authors with Brenda Jackson. A House Divided is a fast read. The girth of the story features Zoie but Hill touches on Kimberly and Jackson. Jackson has got to be the most perfect man ever... wow!

At times I felt there were issues touched upon that could have been further explored. Race relations, family secrets, past loves. I understand that essentially this novel is a romance, there was definitely room to explore these topics a little deeper. Kimberly's story and aftermath would be what I'm most interested in finding out.

Although A House Divided is a fast read that captures readers attention early on, I felt that the story needed a little more depth especially in the the character sense. The story doesn't unfold naturally. It almost felt like one moment they felt one way, then in the next chapter, an epiphany was reached and everything turns out OK. And as far as Zoie is concerned, I didn't like her much of the novel. I almost found her to be way too selfish. As far as the other characters such as the mother and her sister's, Kimberly, and Jackson all seemed like caricatures. Although I dream of a man like Jackson, he just didn't seem real. I hope there's someone out there like him but... He's got to be every woman's dream. SERIOUSLY!

Overall, I did enjoy Donna Hill's A House Divided and definitely will read more by her. I do feel like the novel needed more depth but it's a real page turner so I definitely recommend busting it out at the beach or on the porch with a glass of lemonade.

A House Divided is true eye opening about decisions made in the dark, will see their way to light. Zoie Crawford is a journalist who has been given the assignment to do a story on a budding politician by the name of Kimberly Maitland Graham. As Zoie is preparing to contact Kimberly, she gets word that her beloved grandmother Claudia has died. This is where the story starts developing. From the grave Claudia is giving Zoie her life. Take the journey with Zoie has be travels from New York to New Orleans to bury her grandmother.

This book was a slow read at first. it picked up some. Normally, I like Ms. Hill's stories that take place in the Big Easy. This story was lacking that umph. The story was somber from beginning to end. There were some details that seems to have been left out or rushed. The story was not bad, but it was not Ms. Hill's best work either. Overall, the story was just a story, with a twist or two. Nothing really stood out in the book.