Babylon Sisters

March 14, 2005
Catherine "Cat" Sanderson has a pretty nice life: she likes her consulting business (Babylon Sisters) and her neighborhood (Atlanta's West End), and she's got lovely friends and an absolute peach of a daughter (Phoebe). But said nice life gets complicated when Phoebe takes dramatic steps to find out the identity of her father, which Cat has been lying about for years. Also causing headaches: the sudden, unrelated reappearance of Phoebe's actual father, B.J. (who never knew Phoebe existed and who was, for Cat, "the only operatic moment in my otherwise pretty routine life"), and Cat's new contract with African-American entrepreneur and battle-axe Ezola Mandeville, who runs an eponymous maid service that's highly praised for its generous support of its workers. Of course Sam Hall, Ezola's sexy right-hand man, confides, "We're not really
here to... uplift the race. We're really here to make money." And how they're making that money is a lot worse than one would think. Cleage's (Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do
) intelligent, lively narrative hits numerous notes—domestic drama, romance, thriller—right in tune. Agent, Denise Stinson
.

February 1, 2005
Cleage (Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do) plunges into her familiar Atlanta setting for this new novel controlled by a heavy-handed social extremist-cum-gangster named Blue Hamilton. This time her heroine, single mother Catherine (Cat) Sanderson, nears the edge of catastrophe when her 17-year-old daughter Phoebe forces Cat's hand in an attempt to find out the identity of her absent father. Cat has avoided this issue for years and fears contact with the father, though it's apparent that she still loves him. Meanwhile, a rich African American magnate named Ezola Mandeville courts Catherine's professional help in an elaborate scheme to lure immigrant women into forced prostitution. In a finely tuned dance of feint and thrust, Cat wends her way toward reconciliation with Phoebe and reconnection with her old flame, narrowly escaping a dangerous liaison with a master criminal. A witty social drama portraying strong female characters in a vibrant African American urban community. Recommended for all African American fiction collections.-Jennifer S. Baker, Seattle P.L.

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