Aisha Branch McCovney is a beautiful and stylish woman with Manhattan at her feet. She's also one of three generations of upwardly mobile black women who narrate this warm and indulgent fourth novel by Little (Good Hair
). As Aisha prepares to marry her fabulously rich—and white—fiancé, her mother, Camille, and grandmother, Geneva, reminisce about their own lifelong struggles with love and pragmatism. At 45, Camille is ready to say good-bye to being a full-time single mother and hello to a love life of her own. Geneva, Aisha's grandmother, looks back on her marriage to a charming jazz musician, admittedly "a better father than he was a husband." Geneva and Camille are not surprised when Aisha spontaneously dumps her WASPy fiancé for Miles, a successful, self-made black man. Aisha's sassy narration is peppered with enough au courant references—from Botox to Ugg boots—to keep the voice fresh and authentic, though one that may date quickly. Little strikes a nice balance between heartfelt intergenerational saga and sexy love story, a balance that tips toward sentimentality when Aisha finds her calling through an episode of The
Oprah Winfrey Show
. Awkward pacing is a distraction, but readers will be too busy cheering for these women's bold self-improvements to care. Agent, Faith Hampton Childs. (May)
