The Accidental Diva [Hardcover]

Tia Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 22, 2004

A vivacious, hilarious, and genuinely universal new voice bursts onto the scene with Tia Williams's fiction debut about love, work, and friendship.

Billie Burke is a twenty-six-year-old beauty editor at the world's leading fashion magazine, Du Jour. A black woman in a traditionally white industry, Billie has worked hard to rise to the frothy top of her trade, where paying tribute to the perfect pink lip gloss is serious business. But the crazy days and long nights are about to pay off, as Billie finds herself poised to make a plum career move.

Enter Jay Lane, a charismatic performance artist from the projects of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, a man who has seen a darker half of the world than suburban- born Billie. When the two meet, the chemistry is instant and a side of Billie is awakened that she didn't know existed. But as well matched as they are, Jay and Billie come from different worlds, and the closer they become, the more their past lives threaten to tear them apart.

The Accidental Diva is an irresistible read that marks the debut of a major new voice in women's fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Word? Diva-licious Set in New York City in 1999, Williams's sparkling debut in the overcrowded and almost bitched-out chick-lit genre stars Billie Burke, a young African-American beauty editor who hasn't had sex in five years and is "wound tighter than 400-thread count sheets." Billie, along with close pals Renee, a hip book editor, and Vida, a hotshot publicist (with a rapper boyfriend named Git TaSteppin), inject a black Sex and the City vibe while invoking cultural clashes with caustic glee: "She no longer tried to understand the particular brand of white girl who felt compelled to use late-eighties 'homegirl' slang.... As if she might feel disoriented and at a cultural loss without a 'you go girl' in every exchange." Burke lives for her glam job with Du Jour, a top women's magazine with a predominantly white staff, when her uptown world is dizzily disrupted by downtown Jay Lane, an up-and-coming writer/performance artist and former street hustler. Lane's impoverished, complicated Fort Greene past collides with Burke's happy family history as they try to build a lasting relationship. Williams's gift for sexy if sometimes purple prose ("They were ravenous love junkies") and insider ear (" 'Moment' and 'situation' were industry speak for what was happening at that very second") save this energetic romance from being just another uptown girl meets downtown boy tale and signals the arrival of a sharp new talent.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Billie Burke is the young, middle-class daughter of Louisiana parents. She has grown up never being comfortable with her parents' hippie lifestyle or confident about her own attractiveness. Now the beauty editor at the world famous New York magazine Du Jour, Billie's unpretentious aura, natural eloquence, and workplace savvy make her the prime candidate for a promotion. When she meets performance artist Jay Lane at his one-man show, both are smitten. Jay's past is full of unmentionables and a complicated history with a childhood friend. He finds it impossible to explain that relationship to Billie. Once the two finally meet, Jay is forced to explain his associations, and both are devastated by his dishonesty. Billie accepts a professional opportunity in London to escape her pain. Just as she is about to embark on a new career path, she is lectured about what is really important and encouraged to reconsider her plans and rethink her relationship with Jay. A well-written first novel about the joys and pains of the beauty industry. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (April 22, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399152016
• ISBN-13: 978-0399152016
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #499,457 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasurable Read, but Nothing "Accidental", March 30, 2005

By 

Kharabella "Kharabella" (Somewhere in the midwest . . .) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Accidental Diva (Hardcover)

This fun, quick read is about life and romance of Billie Burke, a 26-year old African American woman working at a major fashion magazine as a beauty editor. She is "fabulous" (meaning fashionable and attractive) and very successful at what she does, even though she has never been in love and hasn't had sex in five years. When she meets the up and coming writer Jay Lane, she falls instantly in love. But the ride is a little bumpy, and she has to learn how to balance her consuming love for this man from the other side of the tracks (and a tragic, troubled past) with having her own life and fulfilling her own responsibilities. She falters, but she eventually begins to figure it all out.

Tia Williams first book was a good, fun read. Her writing is clear and funny, the characters are thoroughly likeable, and the story was well developed and thorough. If it weren't for the almost random and porn-like sex scene on page 59 (and another one towards the end), and the constant celebrity name dropping, I don't think I would have a single complaint.

Here's the thing: I actually read magazines like the one that Billie works for in the book, including the several magazines that Tia Williams has worked for over the years. (I have been a Tia Williams fan myself, admiring her work in the otherwise whitebread world of the fashion industry.) I have been following the fabulous lives of supermodels and various beautiful people since I was in eighth grade. I spend plenty of time as the only fabulous black girl hanging out with fabulous white folks who sometimes make strange comments. I do air kiss my girlfriends, I can picture the Fendi and Coach bags that they carry, and I am thoroughly addicted to lip gloss. Thank goodness for that, because otherwise, the name dropping and industry references and conversations would have been totally lost on me. Either that, or totally annoying. I would not recommend this book to anyone who does not enjoy reading Elle, Vogue and the like.

And while I generally liked and admired Billie's character, I found some of her behavior a little strange. Maybe unbelievable. For instance, that a girl who had never been in love, hadn't had sex for five years, and who was described as intelligent, nerdy, careful, and practical, would suddenly get naked in the back seat of a taxi with a man that she had just met. Huh? I have no problems with "wild and wanton," but the rest of Billie Burke just does not fit with the wild, sex-crazed woman in these scenes.

Overall, the book was a fun read. It was well-written had a lot of funny and clever dialogue. The characters and the scenes did come to life. And if high fashion and air kisses don't annoy you, I think you'll enjoy this book, too.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tia is the best new author of the Year, June 13, 2004

By 

tri (Queens, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Accidental Diva (Hardcover)

Can you say fabulous? That is exactly what this book is. The cover is what first caught my attention, then I read the front flap and discovered it wasn't just another "wrong side of the tracks" book. It was real and direct. I felt the characters and their struggles as if they were my own. Billie and Jay were strong in their own ways standing by each other without being judgemental of the others' lifestyle. This book was not only about beauty and fashion, it was about Jays' fight to survive the streets and become a better, more mature person. THIS BOOK IS A MUST HAVE.CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE......

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars tia willams is a writing diva, May 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Accidental Diva (Hardcover)

This book suprised me by how good it was. I thought that it was going to be another novel in the already too full genre of ghetto love tales, but I was wrong. Willam's characters were complex and her writing was both fluid and intelligent. I picked up the book in the bookstore, intending to only flip through it because I saw this beautiful sister on the cover, but then I got caught up in the story and ended up buying it! You know a book is good if you buy it in hardcover!!
I hope Tia Williams continues to write and that she continues to explore the different aspects of the black experience. Often I try to relate to many of the black books that are out there and find that it is very difficult to do so having grown up in the south, the daughter of college educated parents. Like books by Jenoyne Adams, Danzy Senna, Kim McLarin, and Dianne Mckinney-Whetstone, William's book seemed to invite people who are black middle class into the conversation about what true blackness is. (Not to make the book sound like it is this heavy, serious thing--because it is truly an exciting read.) I just want people to appreciate this book for everything that it does. Go out and buy the book, you won't be sorry.