Capturing Transcendent Moments
Will Leamon crafts fictional works that serve as deeply personal explorations. His writing blends vivid historical detail with emotional family narratives, drawing on themes of resilience and maternal guidance.
Mama, Me & 'Em Bittersweet Memories
A story structured as a series of bittersweet recollections that find beauty even in hardship. From the birth of Willie John in 1942 Charlotte to the bustling streets of Brooklyn NY, this novel is a tribute to faith and strength.
- Historical Perspective
- Maternal Resilience
- Cultural Identity
Core Themes
What makes this story resonate across generations
Power of Memory
Finding beauty in life's most difficult bittersweet recollections.
Maternal Resilience
Portrait of Emma Mae: a woman of immense faith and legacy.
Historical Context
Major 20th-century events: World War II and the Great Migration.
THE MAN BEHIND THE STORY
Meet Will Leamon
Will Leamon is a storyteller whose work serves as a deeply personal exploration of a Black American experience. Drawing on themes of resilience and the Great Migration, he crafts narratives that are both historically vivid and emotionally resonant.
His mission is to preserve the memories of a generation, finding beauty in the bittersweet transitions of life and the enduring power of maternal guidance.
View Full BiographyReader Reviews
Voices from our growing community of readers
" Very happy with my purchase - book is amazingly detailed. Writing is quite different from anything I've read - very straight forward, exhilerating and non pretentious. It is what it is ! For both younger and older readers, this book is not only a history lesson, but one about values and relationships as well. This book presented to me a different view of black American life. I'm a voracious reader. I love this author's style .... I was never bored. Sometimes I laughed, sometimes I cried, sometimes I pontificated about Willie John's viewpoints and Emma Mae's values, but most of all I was made even more aware about the things that happened in the past in this country. I was impressed with the story of Willie John's childhood and family living in Brookyn. I became so much a part of the characters in this family's life - how they pulled themselves up despite the odds and conflicts. Emma's "isims" - her cakes and her philosphies should be be made into another book. I was saddened with her battle with Alzheimer's. At times, Leamon's novel sounds somewhat like a memoir and at other times, an engrossing novel. Race, history, Brooklyn and New York tidbits... childhood innocence, death, interracial conflicts, love, adolescence, growing up into manhood....this story covers it all ! It's different, it's good ...written with love .... I also love the book cover !"
Dottie, Verified Purchaser
"Character development is excellent. I became Emma for a while at the same time understanding the inner thoughts and feelings of Willie John. The book is appropriately titled: Mama, Me & `Em. The writing is very good for a first novel. It's about Emma, Willie John and all the people that enter in and out of their lives. They look for no mercy or pity. The two of them go on through their lives handling their conflicts as they arise. Will Leamon also gives us such a wide-open perspective of what times were like from the 40s thru the present. It is so interesting to see the world through the lens of a young black man growing up in America. The author's style is unique and he takes us in and out of dialect to the point that I understand it completely. As the chapters build, there is very little dialect and many times transforms into a unique style of writing. I enjoyed Willie John's schooldays' descriptions and the motherly love that he received from his mom as a child and young adult. I wept through some chapters and wept more so through the final chapters. I felt that Willie John was telling me his story in my living room in conversation--Terrific narration. I was right there with him listening and brimming with curiosity about what path he was going to take me down next. This book should be a lot more popular than it is---perhaps it will be, IT'S STILL NEW! There is a lot to share with the world in this large 800 page volume. It's long but not a slow read. I wondered how long it took Will Leamon to create and write down all those magnificent thoughts. I really enjoyed this unusual reading experience. Many of those "bittersweet memories" will stay with me for a very long time. I took a chance on this book and will never regret it for one moment."
KBG, Verified Purchaser
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