Ugly Ways

A trio of African American sisters reunite for their mother's funeral in this sometimes poignant but often tedious second novel by the author of Baby of the Family . Joining their father in Mulberry, Ga., the women share bitter memories of domineering ``Mudear,'' who made her family's life virtually intolerable after she had a mental breakdown they refer to as The Change. Betty, the eldest, takes charge of the burial preparations; divorced Emily appears to be on the verge of nervous collapse herself; and Annie Ruth, a West Coast TV anchorwoman, is pregnant and plagued by nightmarish visions of cats. Their father, Ernest Lovejoy, has become a passive shell of the man he was after years of Mudear's browbeating, but that relationship holds the key to an understanding of his dead wife's attitude towards men and the world. Ansa constructs a convincing portrait of a woman so angry she seems to speak from the grave, but the graceless prose does not convey the emotional impact of Mudear's cruelty. Despite rich characterizations and flashbacks that reveal each family member's secrets, this often static narrative fails to hold the reader's interest. (July)