About the Author

Benilde Little is the bestselling author of the novels Good Hair (selected as one of the ten best books of 1996 by the Los Angeles Times), The Itch, Acting Out, and Who Does She Think She Is? A former reporter for People and senior editor at Essence, she lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with her husband. Follower her on Twitter and Instagram @BenildeLittle and read her blog, Welcome to My Breakdown, at BenildeLittle.Wordpress.com.

Reviews

A familiar women's fiction premise-husband leaves wife and kids for pretty young thing-is well served by Little's (Good Hair) feisty, conversational style and her memorable depiction of black upper-class life. Ina Robinson has a beautiful home in an exclusive neighborhood; a generous husband, Jay, who is a fellow Howard University graduate and successful real estate entrepreneur; and three adorable children-Malcolm, Marcus and Ivy. She spends her days caring for the kids, cleaning the house, volunteering, and attending her book club and mothers' group. Yet she has the vague sense that something is missing. In her mothers' group, "all the women were powerful used-to-bes: a banker, several lawyers, a journalist, but I'd never really had a career to miss." When Jay leaves her for a real estate heiress, Ina realizes that she has been sleepwalking through the last few years of her life, having chosen security and predictability over creativity and independence. Though the separation leaves Ina at wit's end-she barely has time to explain to the kids about Daddy's new girlfriend before Jay is selling the house out from under her-she also begins to develop her own career as a photographer, has a chance to reconnect with her first love and begins to consider what she truly wants from her life. Little's writing is assured, apart from the occasional homily ("Know that there's always a price for not being yourself"), and she captures well the awkwardness of being a single divorce in the suburbs. In all, this is a solid, likable effort. 10-city author tour. (Jan.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

What does a wife do when her husband decides to leave her after 12 years of marriage and three children? This is the dilemma facing Ina Robinson in Little's (Good Hair) tale of a woman caught between the life she thought she was supposed to have and the one she really wants. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Ebony Once again, [Little] has created characters that are real and memorable.
The Buffalo News Delightful brain candy.
The New York Times Book Review In the novel's most arresting passages, Ina relates her lack of identity to her own family's history and the historical legacy of all African Americans....Little's expressive prose lends [Ina's journey] substance.