An Accidental Affair by Eric Jerome Dickey

Though flawed, Dickey's novel brims with humor, outrageousness and an understanding of the generosity of affection. Valerie, whose sections are all third-person narrative, is sketchy by comparison. Inda and Chiquita, who are given first-person voices, are bold and sassy. New York Times bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey once again pushes romance and deceit to the next level ( USA Weekend ) in this tantalizing tale of a high-profile marriage rocked by scandal, obsession, and murder. The book suffers somewhat from multiple points of view and an unevenness of characterization. In recovering from their individual disappointments, Valerie, Inda and Chiquita risk new relationships, strengthened by one another's humor, candor and understanding. Chiquita is drawn into the girls' tight-knit family as she falls for their brother, Brown, and learns something from them about courage and love. Inda meets Chiquita, a young flight attendant, whom she instinctively likes, and their friendship is cast when they discover they both have been simultaneously deceived by Raymond, who is engaged to a third woman. Inda, who inherited their father's dark skin and features, has a stable career, but a divorce from her white husband has made her pessimistic about men of any color, a situation exacerbated by flagrant evidence of her current lover's infidelities. After six years of lousy marriage to Walter, she knows she's miserable but doesn't know any role other than that of satellite eternally in orbit around a husband. Fair-skinned Valerie is the younger of the two and takes after their white mother in appearance. Southern California sisters Valerie and Inda are close. But that's what Dickey does, with mixed results, in his first novel, a high-spirited celebration of black sisterhood. It takes guts for a male writer to tackle the trials and tribulations of upwardly mobile African American women.

An Accidental Affair by Eric Jerome Dickey