Searching for Tina Turner: A Novel

Jacqueline E. Luckett
Grand Central Publishing (2010)
ISBN 9780446542968
Reviewed by Tracey Rock for Reader Views (05/10)


“Searching for Tina Turner” is the familiar plot of a woman who seems to have it all.  She has money, status, a successful husband and two great kids.  Then, as no surprise to anyone reading this book, she realizes that after years of supporting her husband’s career and being home to raise the kids, her life is just not complete for her and she can no longer pretend that it is.  She wants to find herself.  Throughout Lena’s transformation back to her own self, she is empowered by watching Tina Turner on television and listening to her songs.

For anyone who has seen the movie “What’s Love Got to Do with It” or read the autobiography “I, Tina,” written by Tina Turner, there should be no surprise as to what the story is about and how it plays into the book.  For those who haven’t seen the movie or read the book, then I would recommend it only for the strong at heart as it is a bit disturbing.  Similar to the Tina Turner story, I found this book a bit disturbing in that the protagonist seemed a bit too obsessed with Tina Turner.  While the author had me on board the first half of “Searching for Tina Turner” with detailing Lena’s life and her resentment towards her husband and ultimate divorce, I could not get into the remaining half of the book where Lena decides to fly to France just because Tina Turner lives there and she wants to see her.  There was nothing there that I could draw from to connect with the character and that made the last part of the story difficult for me to get through.  I would only recommend this book to women that perhaps are going through a similar situation as Lena and could perhaps want to understand how to draw out their strengths – minus the obsessive behavior

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