I LEFT MY BACK DOOR OPEN

A witty narrative and sympathetic characters rescue (but just barely) a story that overexerts itself to include nearly every anxiety known to pop culture. “Let’s get real,” says Dee Dee Dupree. “What are the chances of an overweight, over forty, black woman meeting Mr. Right?” This concern is at the center of almost all the other elements of Dee Dee’s life: her job as a radio DJ in Chicago, the souring romantic relationships of her friends, and her struggle to make peace with being an incest survivor. As the story opens, Dee Dee is hardly excited about her arranged meeting with Skylar, a mediator brought in to settle a sexual harassment complaint filed by her friend Jade at the radio station. When Dee Dee and Skylar meet, however, the attraction is mutual, and they begin a tender if at times troubled relationship. As things go on, however, Dee Dee learns both through her own experience and observation of others that love is a briar patch. Jade considers leaving her domineering husband; high-school friend Sarita becomes increasingly detached from her husband, who then makes a move on Dee Dee; and best friend Sharon comes out as a lesbian, slightly rocking the friendship but most of all affecting Sharon’s teenaged daughter, Tyeesha, who does all she can to rebel. Most worrisome to Dee Dee is her own tenuous relationship with Skylar’s young daughter, Brianna, and with his ex-wife, who just won’t go away. Playing unofficial counselor to everyone in sight, Dee Dee has a full emotional plate—while she desperately tries to reduce the portions on her literal one. Sinclair (Ain—t Gonna Be the Same Fool Twice, 1996, etc.) realistically weaves together a variety of characters, offering a panoramic view of black women approaching 40. Unfortunately, much of the realism flies out the window at the close, when all strings are tied together happily and very quickly. Uneven at the end, but an amusing read.