Gonna Lay Down My Burdens

September 1, 2002
Mary Monroe's Gonna Lay Down My Burdens opens with a bang, when Carmen Taylor intervenes in a violent lovers' quarrel between her friends Chester and Desiree, and Chester winds up dead. Most of the novel is told in flashback, following Carmen and Chester's ill-fated attraction to one another, which began when they were teenagers. It traces the friendship between Carmen and troubled Desiree, as well as Carmen's relationship with Burl, a boy she tried to use to make Chester jealous, with disastrous and long-lasting results. Monroe (God Don't Like Ugly) will surely return to the Blackboard bestseller list with this title, a standout among similar offerings. National advertising; 8-city author tour.

September 1, 2002
At 30, Carmen has spent her whole life in Belle Helene, Alabama, shouldering enough sadness and guilt to make her feel like an old woman. There are friends who have been lost in accidents, friends in destructive relationships, and her fiance, Burl, who has ended up in a wheelchair. To top it all off, Carmen has been in love with the unattainable Chester since she was a little girl. Luck finally shines down on her, and she spends one magical night with the man of her dreams, but guilt forces her to accept that she must stand by Burl whether she loves him or not. Then everything comes to a climax on the eve of Carmen's marriage to Burl when she goes to help a friend in need and ends up on the run from the law. Monroe's remarkable romance delves both painfully and humorously into the lives of southernAfrican Americans, and her richly drawn characters will stay with readers long after the book is finished.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)