Sisters & Husbands
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Book Reviewed by Thumper

It has been an awfully long time since I have read a novel by Connie Briscoe. When I became aware of her new novel, Sisters & Husbands, I thought why not. Why not give Briscoe another tumble for ol’ time's sake. In many ways, reading Briscoe's new novel took me back to a time when novels about three or four sisters/girlfriends and their love lives were a major rave, and actually laid the foundation for the popular trend of African American novels well over 10 years ago. While it is true that I grew tired of the sister/girlfriends genre, reading Sisters & Husbands was like skipping down memory lane. The novel was a welcome change of pace. I had been reading so many books on deep, heavy subjects; it was nice to be swept away by a simple story. Sisters & Husbands definitely swept me away.

Briscoe brings back Beverly and her sisters Charmaine and Evelyn from her previous novel, Sisters & Lovers. Charmaine is now married to Tyrone. The couple have been married for over a year and everything was going good, until Tyrone's daughter Tiffany come to spend the summer with them. Tiffany's arrival will test Charmaine's new marriage for the first time. Evelyn’s, the oldest sister, marriage is falling apart and she does not know why. Her husband Kevin quit his law firm, starts working at Blockbusters and wants to leave Evelyn and their suburban lifestyle and live an anti-materialistic life. Beverly is engaged to be married to Julian. After calling off two previous weddings, Beverly is convinced that she is ready to take the plunge with Julian. But, when she looks at the state of affairs of her sisters' marriages, Beverly becomes more scared and confused and doubtful if marriage really works and could it work with Julian.

Sisters & Husbands is a nice, relaxing summer read. I highly enjoyed it. The story has a good flow and pacing. There was a sense of believability with many of the characters. Briscoe kept the story light and airy. The novel is charming.

I liked Sisters & Husbands, but I did not like everything about it. The only character I have a real beef with is Beverly. Much props to Briscoe's skills as a writer but Beverly got on my damn nerves. I did not get the logic or a grasp on why Beverly was scared of getting married. I did not understand why the state of her sisters' marriages was held in such importance as to affect how she lived her life. Beverly's whole wedding phobia things seemed downright silly to me.

The novel has a fair amount of drama in it that kept me hooked. In all honesty, Briscoe did not make the story messy enough. The novel is definitely rated PG. I was looking for something a little more demented. Briscoe set up a couple of perfect vehicles for good down and dirty drama to jump off, but she took the high road approach. For instance, the relationship between Charmaine's teenage son Kevin and Tyrone's daughter Tiffany was pregnant with messy dramatic possibilities, one being instead of Kevin and Tiffany not getting along’Tiffany and Kevin got along too well. *eyebrow raised*

All in all, Sisters & Husbands is a good summer read. I enjoyed it.
 

Related Links

Sisters & Husbands - Reviewed by Alisa Hyman
http://reviews.aalbc.com/sisters_and_husbands.htm