Her

In her first novel, Muhanji, a coauthor of Tight Spaces, explores John R. Street, a black neighborhood in Detroit where life is so intense that the very houses seem to breathe. In the early 1960s Brother brings Callie, his 17-year-old pregnant bride, home to his parents, Miss Charlotte and King Solomon, and their assorted relatives. The quiet Callie (who sees herself as the warrior Kali) struggles to hold her own among these tough transplanted Alabama farmers, but finally she flees the lethal tongue of Miss Charlotte, who could ``reach down into the girl's `nowhere,' toss her an easy rope, then let her drown, all in the same breath.'' Seeking refuge with Mrs. Wintergreen, a nightclub owner, Callie continues her search for an elusive ``open door'' and succumbs to the dangerous allure of Mickey Dee, the street's glittering, successful pimp. Yet the women of John R. Street and their complex relationships, open and hidden, of both blood and friendship, draw Callie back home at last. Muhanji portrays well a culture that has gone largely undescribed, but in doing so she makes few concessions to people unfamiliar with it. (Mar.)