Reviewed by Lynette Fowlston for Readers' Favorite

Lovingly and Orderly: A Sons Lament by Theodore Shorter, Jr. is a very poignant story which will seem familiar to many. Pauline Shorter was the matriarch of her family. She raised 3 girls and 2 boys in west Chicago, a place regulated for all “colored” folks to live. Raising them to be God-fearing children and to abstain from evil was not easy as she was a single parent. When she needed help, she called Theodore (Ted), who was always there. As the children grew older, they all went their own way, ignoring their mother. It took her hospitalization, being kept alive on a ventilator, to bring her children back to her. Jealousy reined in the hearts of the four siblings. An older sister took charge, even before their mother’s death; she managed through malicious betrayal to leave Ted out of everything. It took being in and out of court to get justice for what his siblings had done.

This is a long book but an enjoyable read. It shows just how jealousy and death can tear a family apart as greed takes over. The author takes the reader back to the birth of his mother in Georgia up to the time of her death, and we follow the trials and tribulations that he went through with his brother and sisters. I found the history of the family to be quite interesting, but at times, I got a little lost trying to remember who he was talking about at the beginning of the book. It becomes quite clear to the reader that all their mother did for the children and what she taught them flew out the window the minute money and property were at stake. For anyone who has had to deal with this, they will understand just what the author went through with his siblings. Recommended read.