From Publishers Weekly For African American sisters Lisa Allen and Danielle Mead, and their best friend Sundi Karif, their mid- to latter 30s in Washington, D.C., is a time of fundamental life change. As Berry's debut novel opens, the extremely independent Sundi is marrying Chris, a Nigerian with traditional ideas of a woman's role; Lisa, single and rebounding from a broken engagement, is finishing her doctoral program; and Danielle, restless in her solid but uneventful marriage, is considering an affair with her young executive assistant. Soon, Sundi, now married, finds herself alienated from Chris; Danielle leaves her husband for the thrilling but superficial younger man; and Lisa meets and impulsively weds a romantic with a dark side. As the women struggle to maintain their balance in the conflict between reality and what they had intended for themselves, their history and love for one another, along with a scathing honesty, serves as a constant amid the turmoil. Berry has recreated the subtle complexity of the contemporary African American professional woman's world, flavored with motherwit and home truths from preceding generations of family. The elasticity and forgiveness of the African American culture is evident in the friends' disagreements, their response to crisis and their ultimate taking of responsibility for their actions. The prose can be flat and impersonal, reading more like reportage than fiction. But even so, Berry's novel opens the front door and greets the reader with a genuine smile of welcome. Hopefully, Berry will learn to liven up her prose, for she traces characters who are real and appealing enough to demand a sequel. Literary Guild alternate selection. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal This first novel opens as Sundiata, a successful basketmaker, is getting married. Lisa Allen, a teacher who is working on a Ph.D. in communications, meets the romantic and persuasive Walter at the reception. Lisa's older sister, Danielle, has it all: a daughter, a near-perfect husband, and a high-powered career. Life should be good for these three independent and successful African American women. But Walter's risky behavior dooms his and Lisa's marriage, Danielle is swept away by an attraction to a younger co-worker, and Sundi must cope with the fact that her marriage expectations are not the same as her husband's. This intense novel follows the best friends for some months as they chide, goad, and support one another through crises and decisions. While not as evenly written as such genre titles as Terry McMillan's Waiting To Exhale (LJ 5/1/92), this is a worthwhile purchase for most popular fiction collections.?V. Louise Saylor, formerly with Eastern Washington Univ. Lib., CheneyCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. See all Editorial Reviews
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我向来对那些宏大叙事不感冒,总觉得它们要么过于空泛,要么就是把人物当成了推动情节的工具。但这本,它将焦点完全集中在一个看似微不足道的家庭矛盾上,但通过这一个点,作者却精准地折射出了时代变迁下,不同代际之间价值观的巨大鸿沟和难以弥合的裂痕。家庭成员之间的对话,充满了那种“你说的我都懂,但我们永远无法真正理解彼此”的疏离感。你能在这些对话中,听到自己与父母、与孩子之间那些未曾说出口的隔阂。作者的高明之处在于,他没有美化任何一方,每个人都有自己的逻辑和不得已,让整个故事充满了令人心酸的真实感。读完后,我忍不住给远方的家人打了个电话,那种被触动后想要修复连接的冲动,是这本书带给我最温暖的意外收获。
评分这本小说简直是文字的盛宴,作者的笔触细腻得像是能描绘出空气中漂浮的尘埃。那种对人物内心世界的刻画,简直让人不寒而栗地感同身受。我读到主角在迷雾中挣扎,那种迷茫和无助,仿佛自己也陷在了那片虚无之中,呼吸都变得困难起来。更让我称赞的是,叙事节奏的把控,时而如山涧溪流般轻快灵动,时而又像深海暗流般沉重压抑,将故事的张力拿捏得恰到好处。每一次情节的转折都出乎意料,但回味起来又觉得是水到渠成,是人物性格使然。它不是那种一眼就能望到底的平铺直叙,而是需要你全身心投入,去解读那些隐藏在字里行间的微小情绪和符号。我尤其喜欢它对环境的描写,那些景物描写不仅仅是背景,它们仿佛拥有了自己的生命,参与到故事的推进中,烘托着人物的命运。读完合上书的那一刻,我感觉自己仿佛完成了一次漫长而艰辛的朝圣之旅,心灵受到了极大的洗涤,久久不能平复。
评分老实说,我一开始是抱着试一试的心态开始翻阅这本的,毕竟市面上同类题材的书实在太多了,很难有能真正抓住我的。但这本书,它用一种近乎冷峻的现实主义手法,撕开了某些我们习以为常却又讳莫如深的社会现象的遮羞布。作者毫不留情地展现了人性的幽暗与复杂,那种挣扎求存的边缘感,那种在道德灰色地带游走的无奈与抗争,都刻画得入木三分。最绝的是,它没有急于给出非黑即白的道德审判,而是将选择的难题抛给了读者,让你在合上书本后,依然在脑海中与书中的人物进行着无声的辩论。这种深度思考的引力,远超一般快餐文学所能给予的。这本书更像是一面镜子,照出了我们社会肌理深处的褶皱和伤疤,让人在阅读过程中既感到刺痛,又不得不承认其真实的力量。
评分我必须承认,这本书的语言风格对我来说是相当具有挑战性的,它拒绝使用那些华丽辞藻堆砌的“美”,而是采用了一种近乎散文诗的句式,充满了破碎感和强烈的意象。有些段落我甚至需要反复阅读才能捕捉到作者想要表达的那种近乎哲学的思辨。它更像是一部意识流的作品,大量的内心独白和跳跃的场景转换,要求读者有极高的专注度。然而,一旦你适应了这种独特的韵律和节奏,你会发现这种破碎感恰恰完美地契合了故事的核心主题——关于记忆的不可靠性与时间碎片的重组。它不是在“讲述”一个故事,而是在“构建”一个体验,一个只属于你和作者共同构建的心灵迷宫。这是一种非常先锋的文学尝试,对于寻求新鲜阅读体验的读者来说,绝对是一次不容错过的智力冒险。
评分如果要用一个词来形容这部作品的整体氛围,我会选择“宿命感”。从故事一开始,就有一种无形的、巨大的力量笼罩着所有角色,无论他们如何挣扎、如何试图改变既定的轨道,最终似乎都逃不过那个早早埋下的伏笔。这种宿命感并非来自神灵的安排,而是源于角色自身性格的缺陷、环境的压迫以及历史的惯性。作者巧妙地设置了许多看似随机的巧合,但当你把所有的线索串联起来时,你会发现所有的“巧合”都是必然。这种布局的精妙,让每一次的悲剧都显得那么的合理,又那么的无可奈何。它像一首精心编排的交响乐,虽然我知道高潮会是低沉的,但音乐的每一个音符都让我沉醉其中,无法自拔地等待着最终那个既痛苦又完美的休止符落下。
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