Before She Was Mama: A TEMPTATIONS(TM) Prequel

Before she was Mama, Shirley was a woman with a life, a history, and choices of her own.Before She Was Mama goes back to the years that shaped the woman at the center of the TEMPTATIONS(TM) family. Long before the secrets of the next generation came to the surface, Shirley was building a family while carrying truths, relationships, and decisions that would echo through the lives of her children.Readers of The Book of Raheim and Malik's Moves will recognize the roots of the family they thought they already understood. The questions surrounding Raheim, the choices that shape Malik, and the silences that hold the family together all begin long before either son fully understands what came before him.As Shirley's past unfolds, familiar names take on new meaning and pieces of the TEMPTATIONS(TM) story begin to connect. What once looked simple from the children's point of view becomes far more complicated when seen through the lives of the adults who came before them.A story about family, love, silence, sacrifice, identity, and the consequences that can travel from one generation to the next, Before She Was Mama expands the TEMPTATIONS(TM) universe while standing as the story of Shirley before everyone simply knew her as Mama.Before Raheim carried the weight.Before Malik made his moves.There was Shirley.