Blackberry Molasses

By Jovial Smith

The play Blackberry Molasses is an inspirational story about a young African American woman, Desera Harrison, who finds her voice through her writing. She struggles to find peace in her turbulent life. She begins building a life for herself in Atlanta, where she lives with her mother and fourteen- year-old twin sisters, Ebony and Traci. Shes also just reconnected with her alcoholic father, which has introduced a whole new level of uncertainty for the family.

This is a remarkable play. The main character Desera Harrison decides to leave her past behind and peruse her dreams, to become a freelance writer for one of the largest newspaper publications in New York. Despite the many disappointments and heartaches that Desera and her family have endured they find strength through love, hope, and faith. This play explores themes of family, loyalty, and perseverance in the face of adversity and is written to encourage and inspire readers to pursue their dreams.

From the beginning of Blackberry Molasses to the Epilogue one will see the significance of strength and perseverance illustrated through Maple and Blackberry Trees. Desera finds strength and perseverance through her writing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469781495

Jovial Smith

Jovial Smith is a Play writer who incorporates her Artistic and Poetry abilities into her second play titled “A Blessing in Disguise.” and third play titled “Seasons of Life” Jovial wants this play to be different from her previous one titled “Blackberry Molasses.”( it is different/JS) Ms. Smith diligently studied the fundamentals of “Art” which helped her develops the first story. She envisions incorporating “Art” “Music”, and “Poetry,” into this book.. Jovial has used her artistic abilities to illustrate some of the scenes (Your art is shown but doesn’t illustrate scenes in the play) in the play. Therefore it is her intent to give her readers an unique perspective of art. This multi talented writer also has written songs for the play as well. Ms. Smith’s intent is to give her audience not only an informative view of art, but different viewpoints of the characters within the play. Hopefully after reading “A Blessing In Disguise and Seasons of Life , the readers will be inspired and intrigued.

Book preview

Cast of Characters

Desera—An inspiring Freelance writer who shares her story of how she didn’t allow her situation with her father to determine the outcome of her life.

Janelle—She’s the mother of Desera, Ebony, and Traci. She owns her own beauty shop called New Beginnings which symbolizes her family starting over and leaving their past behind.

Anthony—He’s the father of Desera, Ebony, and Traci. He’s a recovering alcoholic. Anthony has stage three Prostate cancer and isn’t expected to live much longer.

Ebony—She is Traci’s twin sister and Desera’s younger sister. She has a remarkable gift of writing.

Traci—She has an amazing gift of painting and she’s Desera’s younger sister.

Melanie Williams—a representative from The New York Star, who discovers Desera’s writings and gives her the opportunity to become a freelance writer that helps others, overcome their situation.

Derek—He is the Journalist at "The New York Star." His friend introduces him to Desera and eventually becomes Desera’s