SISTERS AND LOVERS

Imagine Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale without the sex, the sizzle, and the funky humor and you have a fair idea of Briscoe's first novel about three black sisters and their problems with their menfolk. Evelyn, Charmaine, and Beverly live in and around Washington, DC. Smart, materialistic Evelyn has it all: a super husband (lawyer Kevin), two great kids, an upscale suburban home, and work she enjoys as a psychologist. Charmaine, a secretary, has her own home, a young son by an ex-boyfriend, and a sexy but shiftless husband, Clarence. Magazine editor Beverly, the baby at 29, is still single and lives alone. Briscoe gives each sister a problem to chew on- -nothing wrong with that, except the laborious chewing lasts all novel long. Evelyn's Kevin wants to leave his prestigious law firm and start his own: Will Evelyn's resistance endanger their marriage? Clarence's lies and debts are driving Charmaine crazy: Should she throw the bum out? Beverly has just ditched boyfriend Vernon for apparently two-timing her: Can she relax her high standards and forgive him? Beverly's dilemma leads to a more general complaint: ``What's the matter with these black men?'' Her two post-Vernon dates are such dogs that she has a fling with a white guy who turns out to be an anal-retentive nut. The sisters support one another to a point, but sibling rivalries ensure that their relationships stay sweet and sour and add to the novel's most lasting impression, that of a peevish calling to account. Smoothly readable, but flat and uninventive. (First printing of 35,000; Literary Guild alternate selection; $50,000 ad/promo; author tour)