SISTERS AND LOVERS - CONNIE BRISCOE

Connie Briscoe’s SISTERS AND LOVERS is a beautifully written story about love, family heartache, and hope.

The book follows the stories of 3 sisters each living in different areas of the same city, Washington D.C. They meet rarely and when they do they talk about their problems which revolve mainly around “men”. Evelyn, the oldest successful sister with a good husband and two great kids seems to have things going downhill in her life and the secure life she has built is about to fall apart. She and her husband Kevin have made lots of sacrifices to accomplish what Evelyn considers as “a nice and secure life”, which Kevin seems determinant to “throw [it] out the window and start it over” with the law firm he wants to have. Charmaine too is having issues with her husband who’s a drama queen, neglects his words and never keep his promises. All he cares about is his clothes and all he’s good at is burning money on clothes or unwanted things in the house, besides, he uses drugs from time to time. Sometimes I can’t have the nerve to read the book when it’s about Charmaine and her man Clarence, both are a horn in the ass and irresponsible parents. I think the mature character out there is embodied in Beverly. She has high expectations when it comes to men and she would never settle for anything than what she wants even if she has to spend the rest of her days alone. However, she kind of surprised me because at the end of the book she does settle for what she used to refuse because there is no good alternative. At some point, Beverly frustrated me especially on family get-togethers, Sundays and birthdays where she finds herself alone and readers too are experiencing this loneliness with her and it’s like she’s calling silently for a man to chase off this loneliness.

Connie Briscoe has a funny way to tell ugly truths about the African American way of life in the early 20s. the plot is somewhat predictable but in a good way because everything about it is meant to make you smile and then get pissed of so yeah.