From Publishers Weekly
Defining a place in each of two competing worldsAone black, one whiteAis the burden and the triumph of the protagonist of this warm and absorbing first novel. Memphis native Hope Robinson, a scholarship student at a New Hampshire prep school, is as much of a puzzle to her classmates as those white teens are to her. Never quite fitting in, she finds both at college and in her first job that her education causes black peers to question her loyalties to other African Americans. A position at a prestigious Philadelphia newspaper promises a fresh start, but tensions there come early when an anonymous, unfriendly memo about affirmative action splits the newsroom. Hope soon begins a secret involvement with David Carson, a white editor at the paper and the boyfriend of Hope's seemingly perfect colleague, Stephanie Johnson. Assigned a beat in the city's largest black neighborhood, Hope works earnestly to overcome the residents' distrust of the press and finds new love with Malcolm Blackwell, a reporter for several black media outlets, who urges her to take an active part in the community she observes. Complications in her personal life and at the paper prove debilitatingly stressful, but, after a revelatory whirlwind assignment in Africa, she has a chance to see how much she has grown when she's confronted by an unexpected critical decision with lifetime consequences. Hope's observations are rendered in a pitch-perfect voice, and McLarin manages the complex narrative adroitly. This is an assured debut that accurately reflects salient concerns of many young people, blacks in particular. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Hope is a woman with every reason to be mad. Her editor at a Philadelphia newspaper thinks she got her job merely because she's black. Her white lover dumps her for another, blonder woman, and her African American boyfriend considers her a traitor to her race. But when her temper leads her to commit a desperate and irreversible act, she is forced to reevaluate her relationships with her colleagues, her men, her family, and herself. McLarin's first novel goes beyond the typical woman-in-the-Nineties-looking-for-happiness story to explore how rage can erode both individual lives and whole societies and how one woman's ability to let go and forgive can lead to healing. While the supporting characters, especially the men, are thinly drawn, Hope stands out as the perfect girlfriend: smart, funny, and caring, a woman you want to shake some sense into and hug at the same time.?Ellen Flexman, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L., IN
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
