I Left My Back Door Open [Hardcover]

April Sinclair (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 1999

From the bestselling author of "Coffee Will Make You Black" comes this sparkling new novel of self-knowledge starring Chicago DJ Daphne Dupree. At first Daphne fears her romance with Skylar, a handsome mediator, might never get to the next step, but as their relationship progresses, she finds that her yearning for someone to love ends with a discovery of herself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"I am not young, or thin, or white, or beautiful," says the narrator of Sinclair's worldly-wise and entertaining new novel. Gun-shy after several catastrophic relationships, Chicago deejay Daphne (Dee Dee) Dupree is an outwardly successful African-American woman aching for self-realization. Sassy from the safety of her broadcasting booth, the heavy-set 41-year-old jauntily offers her weight as the cause of a recent breakup ("The brotha didn't 'preciate my meat"). In reality, Dee Dee struggles with the shame of being fat and bulimic. She yearns for mature love and the self-confidence she's sure will accompany finding the right man. Meanwhile, relationships she's relied on as stable fall into flux: the 20-year marriage of her high school friends Sarita and Phil is falling apart; her best friend, Sharon, has come bursting out of the closet, an enthusiastic lesbian at 40; Jade, her belly-dancing instructor and fellow deejay, is on the cusp of ending an unhappy marriage. Dee Dee's only constant is her cat, Langston. The mixed blessing of a sexual harassment suit at work brings union mediator Skylar into her life. Attraction notwithstanding, their romance is tentative and obstructed; his (white) ex-wife is trying to reconcile with him and his eight-year-old daughter relentlessly blocks her father's new interest. In the course of sorting all this out, Dee Dee takes stock and faces some long repressed childhood memories. Refreshingly upbeat and robustly spiritual, the novel steers clear of sentimental inspirational writing by means of its frank and funny dialogue, and follows Sinclair's (Coffee Will Make You Black; Ain't Gonna Be the Same Fool Twice) earlier successes admirably. Paperback rights to Avon; author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

A witty narrative and sympathetic characters rescue (but just barely) a story that overexerts itself to include nearly every anxiety known to pop culture. Let's get real, says Dee Dee Dupree. What are the chances of an overweight, over forty, black woman meeting Mr. Right? This concern is at the center of almost all the other elements of Dee Dee's life: her job as a radio DJ in Chicago, the souring romantic relationships of her friends, and her struggle to make peace with being an incest survivor. As the story opens, Dee Dee is hardly excited about her arranged meeting with Skylar, a mediator brought in to settle a sexual harassment complaint filed by her friend Jade at the radio station. When Dee Dee and Skylar meet, however, the attraction is mutual, and they begin a tender if at times troubled relationship. As things go on, however, Dee Dee learns both through her own experience and observation of others that love is a briar patch. Jade considers leaving her domineering husband; high-school friend Sarita becomes increasingly detached from her husband, who then makes a move on Dee Dee; and best friend Sharon comes out as a lesbian, slightly rocking the friendship but most of all affecting Sharon's teenaged daughter, Tyeesha, who does all she can to rebel. Most worrisome to Dee Dee is her own tenuous relationship with Skylar's young daughter, Brianna, and with his ex-wife, who just won't go away. Playing unofficial counselor to everyone in sight, Dee Dee has a full emotional platewhile she desperately tries to reduce the portions on her literal one. Sinclair (Aint Gonna Be the Same Fool Twice, 1996, etc.) realistically weaves together a variety of characters, offering a panoramic view of black women approaching 40. Unfortunately, much of the realism flies out the window at the close, when all strings are tied together happily and very quickly. Uneven at the end, but an amusing read. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1st edition (April 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786862297
• ISBN-13: 978-0786862290
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,283,511 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:

1.0 out of 5 stars Close the back door..., July 21, 2000

By 

Michelle Simmons - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Left My Back Door Open (Hardcover)

...and this book while you're at it! Like many of the other reviewers of this book, I liked Sinclair's previous books, so I gave this one a try. I'm sorry I did. I kept reading and reading, thinking to myself, "surely this must get better." It didn't. The main character, Dee Dee, is supposed to be in her forties, but she sounds like she's a child. I didn't see any depth to this character at all, or to her boyfriend, Skylar. And why Sinclair threw the Bill character in this book, I'll never know. I guess just to have a reason to bring Skylar in to mediate, so he and Dee Dee could meet. Jade and her story of marital troubles and feeling unfulfilled was the most interesting aspect of the book, but Sinclair did a poor job of concluding her story, as if the revelation of a spouse's secret sexual fantasy will cure a bad marriage. Basically, everyone in the book seemed to be unhappy with the condition of their lives, but Sinclair didn't really make their problems very deep or interesting. Sinclair took some deep issues and dealt with them in a very superficial manner, which left me feeling very let down by the book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I left my back door open, January 24, 2000

By 

Yolanda D Tate (Greensboro, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Left My Back Door Open (Hardcover)

I am a true April Sinclair fan,however,after reading this book I was greatly disappointed. These characters were never fully brought to life as in past books. I sense there was a lot of editing in which the best part of the book got deleted or in the film business((left on the cutting room floor)). This a definitely a thumbs down!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good vacation read, August 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: I Left My Back Door Open (Hardcover)

No, this is not the best book ever written. But it's a breezy, refreshing, upbeat vacation read. I recently went away for a week and brought a couple of books. Both were so downbeat that I gave up after 20 pages of each. I went over to a local bookstore and found April Sinclair's new book. Sinclair can be relied on for funny, lively, and interesting dialogue. As a white woman, I truly enjoy reading about the thoughts and feelings of an African-American woman. While it's true that Sinclair wants to tackle tough topics like incest without giving them enough weight, she truly seems like a happy, optimistic soul who is trying to spread warmth and light through her writing. I imagine she's a kind and good-hearted person, not a tortured soul. While I liked, "Coffee" better, I truly appreciate Sinclair's upbeat prose and her inspiring themes.