Synopsis
Stella Payne is forty-two, divorced, a high-powered investment analyst, mother of eleven-year-old Quincy - and she does it all. In fact, if she doesn't do it, it doesn't get done, from Little League carpool duty to analyzing portfolios to folding the laundry and bringing home the bacon. She does it all well, too, if her chic house, personal trainer, BMW and her loving son are any indication. So what if there's been no one to share her bed with lately, let alone rock her world? Stella doesn't mind too much; she probably wouldn't have the energy for love - and all of love's nasty fallout - anyway.
But when Stella takes a spur-of-the-moment vacation to Jamaica, her world gets rocked to the core not just by the relaxing effects of sun and sea and an island full of attractive men, but by one man in particular. He's tall, lean, soft-spoken, Jamaican, smells of citrus and the ocean - and is half her age. The tropics have cast their spell and Stella soon realizes she has come to a cataclysmic juncture: not only must she confront her hopes and fears about love, she must question all of her expectations, passions, and ideas about life and the way she has lived it.
Reviews
Her readers may be surprised that, after the gritty, tell-it-as-it-is Mama and Waiting to Exhale, McMillan has now written a fairy tale. Her "forty-fucking-two-year-old" heroine, divorcee Stella Payne, possesses a luxurious house and pool in northern California, a lucrative job as a security analyst, a BMW and a truck, a personal trainer and an adorable 11-year- old son-but no steady guy. On a whim, Stella decides to vacation in Jamaica, and she narrates the ensuing events in a revved-up voice, naked of punctuation, that alternates between high-voltage energy and erotic languor. Romance comes to Stella under tropical skies-but there's a problem. Gorgeous, seductive Winston, the chef-trainee with whom she enjoys passionate sex (explicitly detailed), is shockingly young: he's not quite 21. Naturally, Stella wonders if he really loves her; endless soul-searching and a few tepid complications occupy the remainder of the narrative. When Stella loses her job, it's no sweat; she has enough savings to maintain her lifestyle. When fate throws two other gorgeous men her way, she immediately decides they are boring and isn't tempted for a minute. Meanwhile, her intense preoccupation with feminine deodorant sprays and the smell of women's public bathrooms is rather strange, to say the least. McMillan's expletive-strewn narrative accommodates such musings, however, and readers who have been yearning for a Judith Krantz of the black bourgeoisie-albeit one with a dirty mouth and a more ebullient spirit-will be pleased with this fantasy of sexual fulfillment. 100,000 first printing; major ad/ promo; first serial rights to People and Essence; BOMC main selection; film rights to 20th Century Fox; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
McMillan (Waiting to Exhale, 1992, etc.) takes it easy with this tossed-together tale of a 42-year-old black, female professional who falls for a young Jamaican cook. The love story provides a suitable frame for the author's trademark charm and credible sense of black middle-class values, but sloppy prose and a single, rather solitary protagonist fail to give readers the synergistic magic of the earlier book. Stella Payne has it all--a charming 11-year-old son, a beautiful house north of San Francisco, and a high-paying job as a financial systems analyst. So why isn't she happy? For three years- -since her divorce from the man who talked her into abandoning her art-furniture business in favor of a more lucrative career--Stella has had no serious love interest in her life. When her son, Quincy, flies off to visit his father, workaholic Stella spontaneously signs up for nine days alone at a resort in Jamaica. The last thing she expects to find is an unquenchable passion for a 20-year-old chef's assistant; on her return home, she discovers that she can't quite relegate her happy thoughts of Winston Shakespeare to the vacation-fling portion of her memory bank. So Stella arranges for Winston to visit her in San Francisco--where the easygoing boy charms her son, her sisters, and her friends, and even talks Stella into dumping the stock exchange and returning to her artist's life. Despite Stella's repeated protests that Winston must be out of his mind, there are few serious barriers to this MayOctober love affair. Long, run-on, train-of-consciousness sentences give the impression less of the characters' mental states than of a hastily written novel. One hopes McMillan will follow her heroine's example and slow down a little on her next book. (First printing of 750,000; serial rights to People and Essence; Book-of-the-Month Club main selection; author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Stella Payne is a successful 42-year-old investment analyst and divorced mother of an 11-year-old son, Quincy. But Stella has begun to feel that her life needs some "groove." On the spur of the moment, she plans a trip to Jamaica to relax and escape from her routine. She meets a man, half her age, whose honesty and physical charm challenge her perceptions of what is acceptable and force her to rethink and re-prioritize her image of herself and her life. Once she returns from her vacation, she recognizes that her life has only been satisfying because it is what was expected from a woman her age. Stella accomplishes her mission of doing something totally out of character by taking her solo vacation and she succeeds at putting more than just a "groove" back into her life. The stream-of-consciousness narration that is utilized for most of this story is a bit awkward at times. McMillan's style here differs markedly from that of Waiting to Exhale, which brought her much "girlfriend" popularity; yet she just may connect with an untapped readership. Lillian Lewis
Stella is a 42-year-old single mother and successful securities analyst who has all the trappings of the yuppie lifestyle. To find her "groove," she goes to Jamaica-but the Jamaica she visits is at best uninteresting. Nothing here convinces the reader that the island is an exotic vacation spot; McMillan's valiant attempts at describing the countryside are weak, and even Stella's choice of meals consists exclusively of pasta. The author could have done wonders with her character but instead fails woefully. Stella's wide-eyed innocence and naivete do not match the rest of her persona. She is fraught with contradictions, and her dialog is childish. Even the romance that develops between Stella and Jamaican native Winston is boring and lacking in energy. Readers will find it difficult to become engrossed in the story; this reviewer came away feeling that McMillan rushed and failed to write a worthy follow-up to her popular Waiting To Exhale (LJ 5/1/92). Purchase where there is a demand.
--Corinne O. Nelson, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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