Changing Faces

Grossly overweight, Whitney falls in love with a truly wonderful man; Taylor practices law and wants her boyfriend to commit to marriage; Charisse is a "true Christian" who abuses her husband and belittles her friends. All try to "change faces." Tracey Leigh's narrative is straightforward, bringing forth the strengths and flaws Roby has built into each woman's personality. When Charisse's abusive childhood comes to the fore, life takes a nasty turn. Whitney and Taylor also attempt to resolve their issues. Leigh tries to bring humor to this tale of negativity and abuse in which strong women are brought down by hubris and lack of faith. M.B.K. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

November 14, 2005
Roby's thin portrayal (after The Best-Kept Secret
) of three steadfast best friends in Chicago shows how they cope with waves of individual and interpersonal troubles. Whitney is an intelligent, overweight singleton who consoles herself at Krispy Kreme and McDonald's. Her dearest friend, Taylor, a successful lawyer, has savvy in the courtroom but no real commitment from her longtime boyfriend, Cameron. The most troubled of the trio is Charisse, a controlling, Bible-thumping man-hater with two young children and a browbeaten husband who has begun to show signs of a backbone. Whitney resolves to face her weight problem head-on, meets an adoring Rico at the gym and finds that she just may be able to recharge both her self-confidence and her sex life. Taylor continues to put up with Cameron's insensitivity and inattentiveness, until a serious medical problem makes her re-evaluate her priorities. Meanwhile, Charisse conceals shady secrets and strives for the upper hand in her marriage. Finally, her bid for reconciliation with her own cartoonishly abusive mother results in a climax as incredible as it is tragic. Despite the book's potential for an honest look at friendship among modern African-American women, Roby's story takes a turn for the mediocre as this novel slides into near-farce.