Too Beautiful for Words
by Monique W. Morris

He walked up all close to me, and I remember he smelled so sweet — like love without sex. From his soft, clean, honey-colored face to the milky white of his teeth, this man caught ahold of my heart and yanked it straight through my body. It was a wonderful feelin’ — natural and dark. And it only got sweeter when he told me that I could come to one of his parties and see his "family" for myself … I hadn’t ever thought ’bout bein’ a ho before, but I did want to do whatever could keep me close to that man standin’ in front of me.In the tradition of Sister Souljah, Sapphire, and Paul Beatty comes a stunning new voice in fiction, Monique W. Morris, and her novel, Too Beautiful for Words.Peaches was a good high school girl until she met Jesus, the pimp who turned her out. They had a child named Jason, who was raised in a group home. Now a young man with a son of his own, Jason meets Chinaka, a former Black Panther who had befriended Peaches. Just as she tried to rescue his mother, Chinaka sets her sights on Jason, who is looking to get into the family business.In stark, moving prose, Monique W. Morris brings us into the lives of Peaches, Jesus, Jason, and Chinaka, whose words capture with exquisite honesty the brutality and humanity of the streets. They will resound in your mind long after you’ve closed the book.