Cream and Sugar

Cream and Sugar is a novel about sex. Middle-aged people and their sex.

Oh, let's not kid ourselves. They're middle-aged. There is no sex. There used to be sex. And it was good sex. But things have changed. There's Elton Pierce, white, middle-class, a disillusioned ad executive who's gone as far as he can go in the business without throwing himself out a window. And there's Giselle, black, modestly successful author of young adult gothic novels, burned out but unsure what to do next. Together, they have two teenaged children who crave attention from indifferent parents.

On a whim, the irreligious Elton goes to church. There, he meets an environmental activist, Liane, young, white, beautiful. Liane stirs in Elton things he hasn't felt in years. Elton is prepared to give it all up--wife, kids, job--to reclaim those dwindling feelings. He lobs an emotional bomb into his home. Sifting through the wreckage, he discovers the remains of pat assumptions about race, belief, family, the environment, and, above all else, desire.

Oh, let's not kid ourselves. Desire is too high-minded a word. The problem has more to do with Elton's testicles. The challenge is to rein them in before they ruin everything. Otherwise, he risks turning himself into a sad imitation of celebrity asshole tabloid fodder.