Family Affairs [Paperback]

Sandra Kitt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999

When the owner of a New York City art gallery meets a popular and controversial artist at her opening, she recognizes him as the man who was a surrogate child to her mother decades ago. This brooding, talented artist is eerily in sync with her innermost secrets and desires, but she has never found him attractive. Now that he has returned to her life from a checkered past, she must adjust to his influence and may learn that her arch-nemesis can turn out to be someone very special.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Setting: Contemporary New York
Sensuality: 8

Gayla Patton and David "Dak" Kinney share an uneasy past. David grew up on the dangerous streets of St. Nicholas Place in Harlem, while only blocks away Gayla lived with her brother and mother, Sylvia, in a brownstone on stately Convent Avenue. After David's mother was murdered by his stepfather, Sylvia took the troubled teen into her home--an act Gayla and her brother deeply resented.

Now in her thirties, Gayla manages an art gallery in New York, has a steady man in her life, and is the proud single mother of a beautiful, precocious daughter named Allison. Her life is going according to plan until fate intervenes and David reappears. A promising artist whose work catches the attention of Gayla's boss, David Kinney's presence makes Gayla consider her past--and her future--in a new light. But before they can fully explore a romantic relationship, both Gayla's and David's past indiscretions return to haunt them, threatening the very fabric of their lives and those they love.

Filled with beautiful, spare prose, this contemporary tale delicately deals with biracial relationships with an honesty and insight that pulls no punches. The complicated tangle of family relationships defined by ties of the heart rather than heredity is thought provoking and a wonderful read. --Lois Faye Dyer

From Publishers Weekly

With a successful New York City art gallery, a beautiful young daughter and a dedicated lawyer boyfriend ready to propose, Gayla Patton seems to have it all. But, David Kinney, a controversial new artist with a criminal history he wants to put behind him, is about to force Patton to confront their shared past. He was taken in as a young boy by her parents and spent a memorable summer living with a wealthy white family for whom Patton's mother worked. As the pair initially regress to their negative childhood perceptions and resentment of each other, Kitt (The Color of Love) successfully raises issues of race and class alongside the powerful emotion Kinney elicits in Patton. Kitt provides seamless transitions between the present narrative and flashbacks, giving a sense of unusual depth and sympathy to her widely diverse charactersAall the while providing the necessary background for a realistic yet surprising turn of events.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Signet (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451191854
• ISBN-13: 978-0451191854
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,827,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Sandra Kitt's Best Work, October 24, 2004

By 

Miss T "Indy Girl" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Family Affairs (Paperback)

I've read other books by Sandra Kitt and have always liked her. This book doesn't even come close being as good as the other books Sandra Kitt has written (especially She's the One and The Color of Love). I felt that the story took way to long to unfold. The first half of the book seems to be devoted totally to not letting the story unfold. When things do finally start to happen it's toward the last third of the book. Once the story finally begins to move things seem to happen pretty quickly and events that should be devestating are wrapped up in just a few pages. I guess that is due to the characters in this book being amazingly resiliant and forgiving. Normally I would heartily recommend Sandra Kitt, but in the case of this book I say only read it if you are a devoted fan.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars NOT HER BEST, May 9, 2001

By 

Mary Allen "Mary B Allen" (HARRISBURG, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Family Affairs (Paperback)

Of the seven Sandra Kitt books that I've read, FAMILY AFFAIRS is the only one that I did not like. I don't think this novel is up to her usual writing style and story line standard.

This is the story of Gayla, a beautiful, single, Black art gallery manager in New York. She is the mother of Allison, who is very obviously half-white. An old acquaintance comes on the scene with "new-age" art and a relationship develops. Meanwhile Allison's father reappears and finds out he has a teenage daughter.

I've read and reveiwed many of Ms. Kitt's books and novellas, with very favorable ratings. This one didn't measure up.

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, October 6, 2000

By 

Beverly Cruz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Family Affairs (Paperback)

Not the style of writinig i'm used to from her. I'm sorry but I couldn't even finish this one. But do read her other books and see my reviews of them. She is a DYNAMIC Writer maybe just some bad luck with this one.