Marva L. Dowdin on stage in a red dress between two towering Blue Wall book covers

A Novel

The Blue Wall

by Marva L. Dowdin

The Blue Wall book cover

In The Blue Wall, Marva L. Dowdin weaves a luminous, unflinching story of family, secrets, and the borders we draw around the people we love the most, because our family means everything to us.

About the Book

Some walls are built of brick. Others, of silence.

In the still and silence of the night, I died in a hospital in West Virginia. Because God knew and spoke my name during that night of silence, I am here to tell my story to the world. "GOD IS REAL AND HE KNOWS YOUR NAME!"

The Blue Wall, my book is set against a backdrop of generational tension and quiet revelation, this is my novel about what it costs to break through — and what waits on the other side.

The Blue Wall, my book tells my story of me, a young beautiful woman, a fashion and a runway model in New York City, and in Dayton, Ohio. I was chosen among hundreds of female models to be the sole female model featured on the Phil Donahue Show in Dayton, Ohio in the early 1970s. I modeled Walter Fountain Fashions.

This lifestyle came with luxury, furs, expensive clothes, diamonds, beautiful cars and with mental anguish, betrayal, infidelity, hurt and lies.

Years later, I was instructed by God to write my book, The Blue Wall to help others who had experienced the same things as me.

However, I allowed Satan to talk me out of completing it. I put my incomplete handwritten manuscript of my book, The Blue Wall, in my coat closet — where I would pass by it every day for twenty years.

But God would not let me forget my manuscript as I walked by it daily; He would tell me, "work on your book." Then I saw a famous lady's TV show where three women had been abused, who were crying and I started to cry.

Then God said to me, "you could have helped women like those on your TV and millions more." I immediately got my manuscript from my coat closet and I worked on it for two weeks almost without any sleep.

With all odds against me and my survival. I am not supposed to be here today. I often wondered why did God chose me to go through so much heartache, sorrow, grief, disappointment, hurt and anguish.

Now, I do know why. Because He knew my best days would be here with me today. "Thank you Lord for believing in me." But here I am telling my story to help others to know that God is on your side and that He has your back.

My life struggled because people took advantage of me and because I was abused by my boyfriend and at another time; I was homeless.

The Blue Wall, my book also tells the story of how I died in the hospital in 1975 and that I had been admitted into many hospitals and seeing many doctors; when finally, one doctor chose not to give up on me. "I thank you Dr. Meredith Rohani, MD my Physician from the Beckley Hospital from the bottom of my heart."

However, with the love and the grace of God and with His Blessing; finally I am able to tell my story to millions of people worldwide and in many languages.

Then after I finished my manuscript, the hard part was to find a book publisher. God then sent me a Guardian Angel by the way of a book publishing company who believed in me. That book publishing company was IUniverse.com. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"I am Marva L. Dowdin, the proud Author of The Blue Wall."

Philippians 4:13 — "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Synopsis

Inside The Blue Wall

There is a deep secret behind THE BLUE WALL. What is behind it? Is it the code of silence that law enforcement personnel portray at will? Is it the silence of a fetus crying for its mother? Is it the dark secret of a young woman's past? Is it a secret that cannot be uttered, or is it just too mind-boggling for anyone to understand?

THE BLUE WALL will reveal a secret that is too compelling to tell. But it has happened to more people than anyone can imagine. It is no respect for a person of race, creed, gender, rich or poor. It can happen at any time. When in the midst of it, no words can describe the feeling.

THE BLUE WALL, it will take you on a journey to uncover this secret of a wall so high that no one can climb over, go around, or crawl under. There is no escape, nowhere to hide, and nowhere to run. Because this secret belongs to you and only you.

This is my very own secret, and it had my name on it for life. After twenty-two years of running and hiding, I finally gave up on what was behind THE BLUE WALL.

This Synopsis is depicting the personal life story of the author, Marva L. Dowdin and no one else!

Key Themes

Faith

The grace of God as the thread that pulled a life back from the edge.

Identity

A model's glamour set against the truth of who she really was.

Purpose

Living to share this story with millions, in many languages.

Resilience

Surviving abuse, homelessness, and the cost of being underestimated.

Survival

Dying in 1975 — and the one doctor who refused to give up.

Truth-Telling

Breaking silence around abuse, exploitation, and hidden pain.

Critical Acclaim

Praise for The Blue Wall

"A monumental achievement. Dowdin writes with the weight of truth and the grace of poetry."
Michael D.
"Devastating, intimate, unforgettable. A novel that refuses to look away."
Ana D.
"Marva L. Dowdin has given us the most essential novel of the year."
Melvin H.
"A searing portrait of family and silence. I could not put it down."
Wilma D.
"Bold, lyrical, and unflinchingly honest. Dowdin is a master storyteller."
Dewayne S.
"An unforgettable meditation on inheritance and belonging."
Jessica B.
Bestseller · Editor's Pick
Marva L. Dowdin in a purple sweater
Marva L. Dowdin in a red top
Marva L. Dowdin in black in the living room
Marva L. Dowdin in her car
Union Carbide picture
Marva L. Dowdin Mary Kay portrait
Marva L. Dowdin book back portrait
The Blue Wall original handwritten manuscript
My Step-Father Zeb Spencer
My Step-Father Zeb Spencer
My Mother Christine Hill Spencer
My Mother Christine Hill Spencer

The Author

Marva L. Dowdin

Marva L. Dowdin is a novelist, essayist, and storyteller whose work will illuminate stages and pages around the world. Her writing examines memory, inheritance, and the architecture of belonging.

The Blue Wall is her most personal — and her most ambitious — novel to date.

Isaiah 40:29 — "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength."

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2 Timothy 1:7 — "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."