Book Review: Ketty Lester: From The Cotton Fields To Grammy Nominated "Love Letters" to Little House on the Prairie by Revoyda F. Buckley

For fans of Little House on the Prairie, she is known as Hester-Sue Terhune. To her family, she is Re-V or Vorda--a unique name given to a talented woman who had careers as a pop/R&B singer and an actress in movies and television.

Ketty Lester: From The Cotton Fields To Grammy Nominated "Love Letters" to Little House on the Prairie brings you through Buckley's beginnings as the fifteenth child to a farming family, to leaving home and attending college for nursing, to her performing in clubs as Ketty Lester and recording records, to her acting career which spanned decades.

Told in a style as if you were sitting across the table with Buckley asking her about her life, you discover she has loved and lost, she has known the challenges of having a career in a competitive industry, she dealt with discrimination and unequal pay, and she has met and worked with other amazing industry professionals.

This is a story told in chronological order which includes several pictures, her filmography, and discography.  This autobiography held nothing back. It will make you admire and feel compassion for Buckley. Though she is now retired, her mark on music and film remains.

As a fan of Little House on the Prairie, I am glad I read this story. I learned more about this talented woman than I knew before. Though the editor in me wanted a more polished version of the story, I totally believe that there is a lot to be said for being true to yourself and telling an authentic story in your own way, which is just what Buckley did.

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher:  Elite Publishing House (April 20, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0578662337
ISBN-13: 978-0578662336

I purchased a copy of this book from Amazon. This review contains my honest opinions, which I was not compensated for in any way.

Available for Pre-order: Ketty Lester: From The Cotton Fields To Grammy Nominated "Love Letters" to Little House on the Prairie

God has blessed Ketty Lester to achieve so much in her lifetime. Growing up in the cotton fields of Little Rock, Arkansas, to her first performance at the infamous Purple Onion in San Francisco, California, with wonderful greats like Maya Angelou and Phyllis Diller, she is most remembered for her 1962 recording of "Love Letters Straight From Your Heart," also known as "Love Letters," which stayed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom for three years and rerecorded by many artists.

The next most-remembered performance was the first horror movie for Blacks in 1972, which was Blacula. She was a lead, playing Juanita Jones, a vampire. The third role, which was her last, longest-running television series, was Hester-Sue Terhune on Little House on the Prairie from 1977 to 1983. She played the only Black female teacher in the series.

Between the Purple Onion and Little House on the Prairie, Ketty Lester's life bubbled over with successes, accolades, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with many of the "firsts" Blacks in Hollywood to appear in television commercials, on daytime soap operas, and to co-star in Julia, the first weekly series to depict an African American woman, Diahann Carroll, in a non-stereotypical role.

Though Ketty enjoyed one acting role after another, and released multiple albums and singles, life was no crystal stairs or a bed of roses. As you share this journey with Ketty, so will you agree that she is a great role model and that she is puts the "T" in triumph.

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Elite Publishing House (April 20, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0578662337
ISBN-13: 978-0578662336

Pre-order here!