Nothing But the Rent [Paperback]

Sharon Mitchell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999

Written with wit and humor, Nothing but the Rent is a story about men, money, life, love, and most of all, the friendship that sustains four unforgettable African-American women. Gayle, Monique, Cynthia, and Roxanne were the only African-American women on their Minnesota college campus. Drawn together by their differences as much as their similarities, they formed a tight-knit group to help each other in good times and bad. Since graduation they have drifted apart geographically, but over one fateful weekend, they will reunite to renew their bond just when it matters the most for all of them. •Strong commercial fiction for the African-American audience in the mode of Terry McMillan, Venise Berry, Eric Jerome Dickey, Bebe Moore Campbell, and Connie Briscoe. •Dutton will publish the second novel by this author in 1999.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this first novel, four single, former coeds, who met when they were the only African American women at their Minnesota college, reunite at a friend's wedding and forge a lasting bond before returning to their separate lives.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Another sister-girl story, about four African American women. Gayle, Roxanne, Cynthia, and Monique attended a Minnesota college campus where they were among a small group of black students. Eight years later, after participating in a college classmate's wedding, they rekindle their friendship at a time in each of their lives when friendship and sister love are needed. With help from each other, a series of problems are overcome: Cynthia learns to cope practically with being overweight and to realize that a man should be attracted to her for who she is and not how she looks; Gayle reciprocates a coworker's advances by inviting him out to eat; Roxanne dismisses a man who misreads her feelings as friendship and not romance; and Monique vows to contact her life-long friend, confidant, and ex-fianceto repair past hurts and disappointments. These women, with their collective disappointments and successes, may not be in control of all the things that happen in their lives, but they can rely on some constants: friendship--and the rent. Lillian Lewis --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Signet (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451192605
• ISBN-13: 978-0451192608
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #771,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick Excellent Funny Read, July 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Nothing But the Rent (Paperback)

I purchased Nothing but the Rent, and believe me I thought it was very well written to say it was first novel. I found the characters funny and believable. Monique was a riot. It did however break my heart in that to me it seems that every story that is written about Black Women centers around our inability to get a man. Believe me as a 26 year old Black woman I don't sit around all day worrying about who loves me and why I can't find a man. I can't not with car note, mortgage, and the energy it takes to live and survive. I'd like to read a book that details the struggles of working and surviving not always loneliness and losing at the game of love.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor development of the story and the characters, October 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Nothing But the Rent (Paperback)

From reading the back cover, I thought this book would be much better than it was. I was very disappointed. It took me about 3 weeks to finish it (a long time for me) because it couldn't hold my interest for any length of time. I didn't care anything about these women. I think a more talented writer could have done something with these characters to make them come to life and make the reader actually care about what happened to them. They all just came across as losers who each had some type of emotional/personal void that kept them from ever having the type of relationship they were looking for. I also didn't like how the story started off. I was under the impression that Angie would have to be of more importance than just bringing the four friends back together for her wedding. I mean, four busy women are going to come together for the wedding of an acquaintance from college that they hadn't even kept in touch with?! Besides, I was far more interested in what the deal was with Angie, her bitter mother and aunt, her fiance, and Vickie and Keith. I didn't care about "poor little rich girl" Monique and why she was in her thirties still acting like a defiant 2 year old in her relationship with her mother or why she was too stupid to hold on to Tyson (or why he was stupid enough to still want her all those years later). I also didn't care about why Gayle was dumb enough to be a slave to her dumb, codependent mother who just needed to live out her remaining years with her alcoholic husband and let her daughter attempt to have a life of her own. And Cynthia couldn't have been that weak minded to let an encounter with a blind date convince her that she needed to kill herself to lose weight in order to get a man. I mean, there was no mention of her feeling bad about her weight prior to meeting with that insensitive jerk. And Roxanne was a nice enough person with good ideals, but how stupid could a woman be to allow herself to be treated like a man's personal doormat/whore and ever have anything to do with him again, regardless of how "emotionally clueless" he is? Plus, the so-called "resolutions" for each of the characters were weak and not well thought out - more like thrown together in an attempt to end a go-nowhere-never-ending story.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Build me up to let me down, June 26, 2000

By 

"cynsmile" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nothing But the Rent (Paperback)

The book had a good and unique opening which lead to the development of the main characters. The opening captivated and motivated me to continue to read. However, as I continued to read I was disappointed about the direction the story was headed. When it finally captured my attention a second time, I was further disappointed because again the book went up, but then it dropped with no conclusions for the main characters. I like when the author draws the conclusion, whether I agree or not at least there is a conclusion. I don't want to write the conclusion or be left wondering what happened to the characters.

The theme of the characters seem to be very familiar. 4 women (technically it should be counted as 5 women) who remain friends, their career choices, family choices, relationship choices and the desparation they go through.

I am not deterred from Ms. Mitchell's writings and will read Sheer Necessity. Again she does a good job developing the characters they were just left dangling.