Big Girls Don't Cry: Novel, a

One black woman's journey to fulfillment is the subject of Briscoe's new novel. As in Sisters and Lovers, social issues play a large role in her heroine's story. In Washington, D.C., in the early 1960s, Naomi Jefferson agonizes over middle-class teenage concerns until her older brother, Joshua, a college student agitated about racism, dies under suspicious circumstances. A few years later, after some romantic disappointments and rough times in college in Atlanta, a chastened Naomi returns to her parents' home and finds work in a city councilman's office, where dim prospects for advancement--and an unhappy, drug-addled relationship--drive her back to school. Eventually, she joins a large consulting firm and gets engaged to architect Marshall Underwood. Then her plans are disrupted not only by the denial of a promotion but also by the sudden appearance of an unruly teenager claiming to be Joshua's son. Other complications ensue, but a happy ending for Naomi is never in doubt. Briscoe's pacing is brisk, and the plot touches on a range of key social issues: civil rights, affirmative action and intragroup prejudice. Although the dialogue is sometimes self-conscious, and Briscoe lacks Terry McMillan's brash zest, her empathetic portrait of a modern woman wrestling with issues of love, work and family obligations should add to her popularity as a chronicler of contemporary African American life. $150,000 ad/promo; author tour. (May)