Customer Reviews

Acting Out

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved Ms. Little's previous books but this one was not as exciting. Ina was a very interesting lady but she just did not grab my attention. I think there were just to many family issues going on and you just could not get to the center of the story. He cheated, he left and she had to go on without him. I liked the fact that it showed how black women are able to cope through various aspects of life. Granted this was an easy and nice read but it is not her best writing.

A good book will cause you to think and feel, and this is the effect that Acting Out has.

Benilde Little is an observant writer with a penchant for good, relevant detail. She paints scenes with her words, makes you feel the characters, tempts you to question what you'd do if you were in Ina's situation, the narrator of this novel about a wife who finds herself in a marriage/mommy/woman dilemma. Benilde Little makes you know the character; every emotion that Ina feels, it's as good as yours. If Ina is there, so are you. Some of Ina's feelings are disturbing, or is it that she's just real, honest, able to get in touch with her heart no matter what's inside. In truth, Ina confesses certain feelings that many of us might hide for fear of judgment, for fear of misunderstanding. But if we're honest we can relate to Ina's musings, her regrets and non-satisfaction as a tired and wore-out mom, a disillusioned wife.

Her third novel in approximately seven years, Little's absence from fiction has been felt; her return well worth the wait. With its candid revelations and realistic portrayal of family, marriage, and independence, Acting Out triumphs.

As always, Benilde Little did a superb job of telling the story of one woman's struggle to fulfill her mission in life. In "Acting Out," the main character Ina is faced with moving on when her husband leaves her and their three children after 12 years of marriage. Unlike many characters in contemporary fiction, Ina doesn't sing the "my man done me wrong" song. She looks within and tries to examine how she contributed to the demise of the marriage. She comes to the realization that she focused so much on carrying out the roles of perfect wife and mother that she abandoned her own dreams and ambitions. Instead of focusing solely on the shortcomings of her "no-good husband," Ina decides to focus on reclaiming her dreams.

There isn't a lot of over-the-top drama and in-your-face biting commentary. This book is more of an exploration of life beyond the fairy tale and what happens after you say "I do."

"Acting Out" is a must-read for anyone who's aching for a smart read. If you're tired of ridiculously graphic sexual escapades, constant profanity and page after page listings of designer/bling-bling references that fill pages of many contemporary black fiction novels, then you owe it to yourself to read this book.

I have read Ms. Little's previous books and really looked forward to this one. I could not even get through it - it was abstract and not at all interesting.

I rarely don't finish a book but I could not get through this piece of work.

I really enjoyed this book and the way the character was able to connect her childhood, college days, initial motherhood, and the current situation to see how she got where she was, inside.

I liked the fact that Ina admitted that she wasn't the woman her husband had married. I appreciated the storyline that explained how a woman goes from a college graduate ready to conquer the world to someone who has a full day everyday caring for the people in her home, but one that does not have the respect of most people. I enjoyed the ending as well. It didn't matter if she and her husband reconciled. She was complete in herself.

I was also grateful that Ms. Little left-out any explicit sex scenes. Sex has been all to described in modern literature. Its time to go beyond that and explore why we do or don't do something.

Don't miss out on this one.

As always Ms. Little has delivered a blockbuster! I was enthralled with Ina and her emotional rollercoaster. Ms. Little painted a vivid picture of not just characters in a book but human beings. People I loved and cared about. I actually could not put down this masterpiece because I wanted to know if Ina could survive as a single Mom, could she forgive her Mother and face her on fears. Could she rekindle her creative side that would inevitably allow her to be herself. Not to mention being faced with issues of denial and even infidelity. The element of family and how they shaped Ina was also fascinating even as they struggled with their own issues. Especially her cousin whose tragic life ended to soon. Also having grown up in the very neighborhood as the author and played in the same streets, despite some ficticious names, mentioned by Little took me home again.

Ina has a twelve year marriage, the luxury of staying home to care for her three beautiful children, and a home that most people only see in magazines, yet happiness is just outside her grasp. When her husband announces that he is leaving, she is shocked and a little surprised that he was the one doing the leaving. All her life, Ina struggled to find a level of comfort with who she really was. Once she married Jay, an enterprising and hardworking owner of a real estate firm, her search for self fades into the background and eventually she becomes consumed by her life as a wife and mother and loses herself. After a difficult childhood, Jay dreams of having the perfect family, the perfect home, and enough money to enjoy all the comforts the world has to offer. But what is Ina's dream and is Jay's dream enough? Now that Jay has left, Ina is forced to explore her past, come to terms with her present, and plan for the future. Will she find herself along the way? Is the marriage really over?

Benilde Little's latest novel demonstrates that she is still at the top of her game. Through Ina's character, we experience pain, insecurities, and the rich cultural legacy that are common parts of the lives of African American women. We learn the importance of accepting ourselves and others for whom and what we are, through Ina's experiences after her husband's departure. While this book is focused on Ina rebuilding her life, it is also about her self-discovery. The supporting characters in the book are diverse and add additional complexity to the story line. One of the book's messages, that you should never get so caught up in the dreams of others that you forget your own, will surely tug at your heartstrings.

Reviewed by Stacey Seay
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Moving tale of wife and mother Ina who seems to have it all--beautiful family, hardworking husband, million-dollar house in the 'burbs...until one day her husband Jay announces he is leaving..and walks out, leaving her to care for and raise their three children. Her husband has left her for another woman, and Ina is left to "find herself." Having devoted years to her familial role, Ina soon realizes the her entire identity is intricately tied to those roles of wife and mother. When the realtor arrives at their home and Ina discovers that the money is also gone, she also recognizes that there will be a significant financial adjustment to make. Soon, their house is sold and she and her children move into a much smaller home in a different part of town---and Ina realizes that she is about to start her entire life over.

Readers will appreciate the realism that Ms. Little brings to her stories and her characters..; although not as intriguing as Good Hair and The Itch, this is a serviceable story made even more so by the author's gift with the pen.

DYB

The only reason I gave this book three stars is because I liked the flow it had to it. The author can effectively tell a story. However, I could not get into the main character at all. In my opinion the author did a good job of making Ina out to be a whining, selfish woman who, if in the back of her head knew that the married/children life was not for her, should not have made the choices she did. No one is to blame for her unhappiness but herself. Yes, her husband is a rat, however throughout the book it was as if Ina's main problem was not her husband's infedelity but rather her unhappiness with who SHE had become. The woman was unhappy because she chose to be. Throughout the book she complains almost non stop about the dredges of motherhood, but what did she really expect? No one forced her to "give up her dreams" and no one forced her to marry her husband. And only a selfish person would leave her children for one week after her husband leaves her (as if they haven't been abandoned already.)So while I enjoyed the writing, I really did not like the main character.

For Ina, the matter is a life of unfulfillment, discontent and frustration. As she contemplates her life, her husband announces that he is leaving her and their three children. Never following her dreams because of doubts from others and her need for a safety net, Ina is forced to be all that she can be for the sake of herself and her children. Jay is a man from humble beginnings who wanted it all, worked to achieve his dream, and it still was not enough to prevent failure. Forced to look within his bourgeoisie psyche, lessons are abundant as Jay comes to terms with the world that he never quite fit into.

Told through the voice of Ina, she dwells on her childhood, her college years, her courtship with Jay and a lost love. A host of secondary characters add to the mixture forcing the reader to understand whom Ina and Jay are and what they really are trying to escape, hence the good character development.

Thought provoking, intricate and somewhat complicated at times, Benilde Little forces the reader into Ina and Jay's world as we navigate the past, present and future with them. Acting Out explores how our past can dictate our future, our hopes and our dreams and reverts back to that age-old quote, "be careful what you wish for." Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves, APOOO BookClub