His First Wife

September 1, 2008
At the age of16, Kerryand her domineering mother, one of Atlantas elite, planher whole life. She is going to be a doctor, so she studies hard, does well atSpellman College, and applies tothe top medical schools. Butthe schools do not accept her, and she falls in love with a Morehouse man. Jamison is not what her mother wanted, nor is Kerry what Jamisons mother wanted, a spoiled rich girlnicknamed Black Barbie. Ten years later, a very pregnant Kerry is arrested for hitting her husband at his girlfriends house. How did this very-much-in-love couple come to this? Kerry starts to think back through the years, and Jamison does as well. They love each other, and for the first time, Kerry must think for herself without her mothers input. Octavias second novel is a truly wonderful story with wide appeal about love and what it takes to make a marriage in modern African American society.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)