Don't Blame the Devil

Walker's (Somebody's Sinning in My Bed) latest hilarious faith-based romp spotlights a devilish diva who finally realizes that, although she might look like Lena Horne, she "ain't Lena Horne." But in Walker's world, second chances at happiness are not only possible but probable, even at 63. Almost 40 years have passed since Delilah Dupree Jewel left her husband, Deacon Thurgood (aka "Thur-no-good") and put their two-year-old son, Jessie, in foster care in order to pursue a career in showbiz that took her all the way to California. Back in New York, running out of money (but not out of smarts) and licking the wounds of her failed shot at stardom, she asks Jehovah for help. Ask and ye shall receive: she runs right into Thurgood at Harlem's New Hope Assembly Church. Now 70, but still sporting the same hairstyle he wore in his youth, Deacon is mortified; he doesn't want Delilah to know that he's befriended Jessie, now a widower, but he's never told Jessie that he's his real father. But the truth finally, and humorously, comes out. Walker shines a little light on a wacky family reunion with her usual inspirational, knee-slapping style. (Sept.)