The Ex Chronicles: A Novel
It's a familiar premise—four 30-ish New York City friends bondSex and the City–style to navigating the perils of single life. Thankfully, Taylor (editor of the Brown Sugar series) makes it fresh again in her delicious debut novel by punching up the ante with some intriguing Terry McMillanesque twists. All the women have the expected romantic issues. Aspiring novelist Precious Morgan, a struggling â€œLiteroticaâ€ journalist, loses her job and keeps returning to an unfaithful Darius. Zenobia â€œZâ€ Bowles is a chic model who's in love with unfaithful Malcolm, a Dutch/African artist. Bella, an overindulged diplomat's daughter, is an alcoholic/addict who wonders why she can't deep-six Julius, her unfaithful musician boyfriend. Only stressed-out Hope Harris, the creative director ofShadesmagazine, has a different love problem—while coping with a mother suffering from Alzheimer's, she's falling for Derrick, a handsome artist from Harlem struggling to pay the bills for his three daughters. These dark beauties share realistic concerns many singletons can identify; they survive tough times by recognizing a challenging truth: â€œIt's not what happens, it's how we handle what happens.â€(Feb.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.