Sittin' in the Front Pew

March 25, 2002
Brown's sophomore effort explores the upheavals that a father's death triggers for his grown daughters. Narrator Glynda has just passed the bar exam in L.A. when she receives the dreaded late-night phone call. Drawing on the strength of her plucky best friend, Rico, she flies to Baltimore, where the family is gathering to bury Edward Zachary Naylor. Tears fall and personalities clash as Glynda and her siblings—Renee, Collette and Dawn—bicker relentlessly over funeral arrangements. The battle lines are drawn, with Renee and Collette on one side and Dawn and Glynda on the other. All are pretty annoying, but the penny-pinching, malicious Collette is just too wrong to be believed. They find plenty to fight about: should their father's fiancée, Estelle, be involved in the planning? Who is the mysterious Nina, and why is she in the will? Did Viagra kill Daddy? Who gets to ride in the limo? One has to wonder about an author who names a character Uncle Thomas and has him utter lines like "I know dey's da fancy ones, ain't dey?" but he turns out to be the voice of reason. Thomas and the other secondary characters are affable enough, but it is hard to feel for the petty, selfish sisters. Their story is little more than an extended catfight, but Brown (The Shirt off His Back) gets credit for slipping in some laughs and tenderness along the way. 7-city author tour. (Apr. 16)Forecast:Count on this campy offering to follow Brown's debut onto the Blackboard and
Essence bestseller lists.

December 1, 2001
Did Glynda's beloved daddy have a daughter elsewhere? To find out, read this book by the author of the Blackboard and Essence magazine best seller The Shirt Off His Back.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2002
Brown tackles the fragile state of losing a parent as well as depicts the privilege and tragedy of being in the family after the death of a loved one. Glynda Naylor heads across country to bury her father, who raised her and her three sisters after their mother's death. The people who loved Edward Naylor find themselves exposing the best and worst of themselves in their interaction with one another. His daughters, Renee, Glynda, Colette, and Dawn, gather to make the arrangements for his funeral. Glynda and her sisters are reminded that their father, with his larger than life persona, was endearing not only to them but also to his friends, coworkers, and community. They discover from reading his will that there is an unknown woman who has been left an equal share of his assets. This woman's revelation about her identity and her relationship with Poppa Eddie shakes the girls' image of their father to the core. Yet, their love for their father is greater than any personal grudge.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)