Plenty Good Room
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- ¥1,500
発行者による作品情報
Tamara's attention was riveted on Minister Walker. She felt a bit dazed by the magnitude of the sacrifice that Jesus made, giving up His life for people just like her. "Now, let's go back to our description of love, church. Could you love like that? Could you sacrifice anything that you really cared about?" Tamara couldn't help but think of how often she was resentful about Sienna's intrusion in her life. It wasn't as if she even loved the girl or anything like that, yet she felt ashamed of being so selfish at this moment. Reverend Walker, preaching in earnest, said, "Church, your sadness can't keep you cryin' when you walkin' in love, and your problems can't make you lose your joy when you walkin' in love." Tamara closed her eyes and held her Bible close as she found her feelings again going awry in the sanctuary. The lyrics to the old Negro spiritual touched her heart, and her eyes were wet with unshed tears...All Tamara could do was hug herself as she gently rocked back and forth, listening to the singing that seemed to fill her...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The protagonist of this debut novel is Tamara Britton, a reserved, devoted child welfare worker. The 30-something's quiet, tidy life is turned upside-down when her boss asks her to temporarily take in a foul-mouthed teen runaway named Sienna. During this stint as a foster mom, Tamara has to supervise homework, discuss teenage sexuality and wade into the murky world of pop culture. She is also motivated to put together some of the pieces of her own interrupted childhood and travels to prisons and hospitals in search of birth parents she never knew. Edwards richly develops the novel's characters, especially those who play supporting parts. Tamara's outrageous friend and colleague, Lynette, is a hoot, and Lynette and Tamara's sharply dressed but racist boss is well drawn. Still, the novel is far from perfect. The two plots Tamara and Sienna's relationship, and Tamara's own childhood tie together at the end, but the connections require coincidences that strain credulity. The stock features of CBA fiction are all predictably there: Tamara, who has never dated, is suddenly wooed by two fine men. And she not only finds love but also her faith at a church altar call. This contribution to the flourishing field of African-American Christian fiction is promising, though it also suffers from first-timer flaws.
