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P. G. County [Hardcover]

Connie Briscoe (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)


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Book Description

September 17, 2002
Connie Briscoe’s previous novels have won the accolades of critics, positions on national bestseller lists, and the loyalty of millions of fans. Essence magazine called Sisters and Lovers “a frank and funny tale,” and Mademoiselle dubbed it “riveting ...lively...hilarious.” The San Francisco Chronicle had high praise for Big Girls Don’t Cry, declaring “[It] brims with warmth, energy, and a positive message.” With P.G. County, Briscoe serves up a sexy, lush, and irresistible portrait of an elite African American community in Maryland.

Now meet the women of P. G. County:

Barbara Bentley
is fifty, rich, fabulous, and the wife of the powerful Bradford Bentley. She has more than enough trouble keeping track of her handsome but all-hands husband while keeping her drinking problem in check

Pearl is a hairdresser who lives on the outskirts of the tony Silver Lake with her grown son, Kenyatta. As Pearl strives to grow her business and recover from a bad divorce, she also has to deal with Kenyatta’s new girlfriend, Ashley, who is not at all the match Pearl imagined for her son.

The married Jolene, the black-sheep daughter of a prominent judge, beds down more than one promising candidate as she pursues a wealthy and powerful replacement for her earnest and hardworking husband.

Candice Johnson is remarried, white, and liberal, at least she always fancied herself as such until her daughter enters into a serious relationship with a young black man, and Candice’s life as she knows it is suddenly called into question.

Lee is a teenager on the run from her mother’s abusive boyfriend and in search of her own father whom she believes to be handsome, rich,and all-powerful.

In Connie Briscoe’s big new splashy novel, five lives intersect in the swish and swanky, rich and raucous Prince George’s County. With more than a nod to Peyton Place, Connie Briscoe has created a fabulously fun novel that will delight, excite, and entertain.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Affluent African-Americans are the protagonists of this entertaining novel, a gossipy tell-all that goes behind the scenes of suburban life to reveal the secrets of the inhabitants of Silver Lake, an exclusive enclave of Prince George's County, a Washington, D.C., suburb. Through the eyes of five women, readers learn that even in this so-called exclusive community, residents are still fighting to be judged for who they are rather than what "class of society" they represent. Barbara, the grand dame of Silver Lake, is a recovering alcoholic married to Bradford Bently III, multimillionaire and womanizer. She's struggling to regain her self-confidence and to save her 30-year marriage. Jolene, married to hardworking Patrick, is a high-ranking civil servant blinded by revenge and greed and willing to do whatever it takes to move up the social ladder. Pearl, a divorc‚e, is a successful beauty-shop owner, living on the outskirts of the community. Candice is an aging white flower child, living with her second husband and two daughters and coming to grips with an old family secret that, if revealed, may tear her family apart. Lee, a runaway teenager, looking for a father who doesn't know she exists, comes to Silver Lake armed with one clue, the nickname Smokey. Though the story is a stereotypical smalltown drama, Briscoe (Sisters and Lovers) uses her skill as a talented storyteller to deliver just the right touch of intrigue.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-Prince George's County, MD, adjacent to the nation's capital and one of America's most affluent majority African-American counties, is the backdrop to this novel. The main characters live in the exclusive, gated Silver Lake community. They include Barbara, the long-suffering wife of a womanizing self-made millionaire; Jolene, a sexy, materialistic government executive who seeks to replace her husband with a wealthier, more ambitious man; and Candice, a white, aging hippie whose daughter, Ashley, is dating Kenyatta, a young black man. Candice opposes her daughter's dating outside of her race, and Kenyatta's mother, a hardworking divorc‚e whose husband had abandoned them to marry a white woman, is equally against her son's choice. Lee is an abused, runaway teen whose life collides violently with the opulent world of Silver Lake in her desperate search for her father, whom she has never met. One subplot gives an unexpected 21st-century spin on the "tragic mulatto" literary theme of the early 20th century. Teens who have read James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (Vintage, 1989) or Charles Chestnutt's "The Wife of His Youth" might find it interesting to compare the significance of racial identification explored in those works to its importance here. Fans of Terry McMillan and E. Lynn Harris will also enjoy this novel.
Joyce Fay Fletcher, Rippon Middle School, Prince William County, VA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (September 17, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385501617
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385501613
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #937,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Fiction:
--Money Can't Buy Love (Grand Central Publishing/Hachette)
--Sisters and Husbands (Grand Central Publishing/Hachette)
--Can't Get Enough (Doubleday)
--PG County (Doubleday)
--A Long Way From Home (HarperCollins)
--Big Girls Don't Cry (HarperCollins)
--Sisters and Lovers (HarperCollins)

Nonfiction:
Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women Over 50

 

Customer Reviews

97 Reviews
5 star:
 (30)
4 star:
 (26)
3 star:
 (17)
2 star:
 (15)
1 star:
 (9)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (97 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Drama, Drama, Drama..., September 20, 2002
By 
M.C. Beamon (Scarsdale, NY United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: P. G. County (Hardcover)
Drama, Drama, Drama, that's how I describe the story line in P.G. County by Connie Briscoe. If you happen to like drama in your life, this is the book for you. From the opening page to its abrupt conclusion, this novel is packed with scandal, infidelity and betrayal, all of the classic elements of a daytime soap opera but rarely seen as expertly crafted in black fiction.

For these women, Lee, Barbara, Jolene, Pearl and Candice, their problems resolve around race and money. Interracial dating and interrace disputes are as much characters in this novel as the women themselves. I, too found these topics interesting enough for a novel, so I covered them in my book, Dark Recesses. In P.G. County, however, racial identity and acceptance are just a backdrop to the core troublemaker, money.

As the quote goes, "when money is seen as a solution for every problem, money itself becomes the problem," by Richard Needham. From the enormous house, elaborate weddings, and expensive shopping tastes, the women in P.G. County raise excess to new heights. For most of the women in this story, money is used to console them, rather than working on resolving the relationship and self-identity issues they have. One of the relationships on the brink of ruin from the beginning of the story is Barbara and Bradford's.

At times, the reader is led to hope for the couple believing the adage, "a successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person," by Mignon McLaughlin. When Bradford makes an effort to rekindle his love with his wife, you almost believe their marriage and lives will turn around, but that wouldn't make a good soap opera, now would it?

Mary J. Blige recently had a hit song called, "No More Drama," with the Young & the Restless Soap Opera music playing in the background. If you're like me and have enough drama in your life, so you're trying to follow Ms. Blige's example, than I would stray away from this episode of "Days of Our Black Lives." But, if you want some mindless fun, then travel on down to P.G. County and meet five ladies that will make you hope your friends are different and grateful if they are.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Sex in the Suburbs oh MY!, September 23, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: P. G. County (Hardcover)
Excellent! Bravo! Well worth the wait for Connie Briscoe's return. With the introduction of the Bentley's(aptly titled) Jolene, Patrick, Candace(who really added nothing to the story), Lee, and Pearl, we are introduced to P. G. County, an affluent all Black suburb. The characters were lost in status and power measuring themselves against the stick of the Joneses...whose got the biggest Mercedes, the biggest house, and the best husband. It was a fast intriguing ride. This book comes with a guarantee that there is something for everyone in this story. ENJOY!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A Neighborhood Full of Drama, August 26, 2006
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: P. G. County (Hardcover)
I read the books out of order. I read the sequel "Cant Get Enough" first. I must admit "Can't Get Enough" is much better.

Barbara Bently is married to the worse kind of philanderer, Bradford Bentley. He can't seem to keep his extra marital affairs a secret. He doesn't seem to care how his affairs have embarrassed Barbara and their daughters. They are one of the wealthiest couples in the neighborhood. It's evident that money isn't the root of happiness but is (in the book) the root of all evil. After many years of marriage and dealing with his extra marital affairs, she still sticks around.

Jolene is a very materialistic home-wrecker who is trying very hard to pretend to live a certain lifestyle just to impress her neighbors and family (mother and father). She doesn't care who she hurts, including her loving husband Patrick, to get what she wants. Jolene wants wealthy social elite. It doesn't matter who he is, just as long as he's rich and can afford the lavish lifestyle that she wants to have. In desperation, she tries to lure Bradford Bently in. She throws a huge house-warming party at her new million dollar home to impress her neighbors. She wants this party to be the party that everyone will remember and talk about for months. IT WILL BE!!!! All the things that she has done in the dark will come to light at this party.

Pearl is the single mother and awesome cook/baker who own a beauty shop. She isn't comfortable with her son, Kenyatta, dating out side of his race. After a lot of convincing she tries to accept Kenyatta's girlfriend (Candice's daughter) but still isn't comfortable with their relationship. Patrick (Jolene's husband) is helping with a political campaign and decides to ask Pearl to bake one of her famous cakes for the campaign celebration. The attraction between the two of them is too strong to ignore.

Candice is a mother of two teenage girls. One of her daughters is dating Pearl's son, Kenyatta. Candice has problems with her daughter dating outside their race. She soon realizes and appears traumatized to know that she and Kenyatta aren't much different at all.

I am a life long Marylander and am very familiar with P.G. County. The book was entertaining. I must agree with some of the other reviews, the ending was rather rushed.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Barbara Bentley was sweating profusely and it wasn't the shakes this time. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Silver Lake, Uncle Clive, Bradford Bentley, Barbara Bentley, Prince George's County, Jolene Brown, Candice Jones, Connie Briscoe, David Manley, Patrick Brown, Jonathan Parker, Holiday Inn, Montgomery County, National Archives, Pearl Jackson, Seat Pleasant, Ford Taurus, Sixteenth Street, Stuart Weitzman, Sue Ellen, Washington Post, Civil War, Manolo Blahnik, Mister Big Shot, Spelman College
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