Satin Doll by Karen E. Quinones Miller
	We could not find the satin or the doll in Karen Q. Miller’s first attempt at writing a novel.  I agree with the summation concerning Miller’s characters… they were not nearly as strong as Terry McMillan’s characters.  But then we really did not expect them to be, did we?        Most of the book club members thought it was possible for four young African-American females to leave their apartment in Harlem, venture to a club in the neighborhood, meet three male law students, whom two of them eventually marry and one marriage survives the end of the book.  (I kinda doubted that scenerio).They said it just doesn’t happen in Canton, but it does happen in big cities.         Anyway, we did find the plot, if there was a plot, weak.  The discussion centered on the characters. Regina, believable self-made, turnedaround, don’t-cross-me-cause-I-will-get-you-back, don’t need no man kinda woman. Puddin, poster child for hoochie mama. Yvonne, stand by your man and I do mean YOUR man girl-woman, never quite made it to full womanhood.  She is definitely a “wouldn’t want to be ya” character.  And then there was sweet Tamika who lived happily ever after with her loving husband, David.         Okay, I overstated.  Of the male characters, we concentrated on Charles.  Do men who really love their wives cheat?  Did we answer that question?  I am not sure.  If we seemed confused over Charles’s actions, maybe it was because the author really did not know her male characters. Charles marries one type of woman, streetwise Regina, but is somehow attractive to the quote well bred Angela unquote. So he loves Regina but believes he deserves Angela?  Sorry, I don’t get it.         On a personal note, I did not like the ending. The four females remained true friends to the end reminiscence of Waiting to Exhale.  I could not accept friendship as an adequate substitute for the breakup of a family.        Finally, I have to give it up to Miller.  She took the plunge and self-published her first novel. I am sure she will improve as she continue to write and sell.  Everybody has to start somewhere.
			BACK