As We Lay

October 13, 2003
Passion and heartbreak challenge an independent Indiana woman in Johnson's (Dream in Color
) latest. Breck Lawson, an "attractive, headstrong, twenty-six-year-old African-American" architect, is struggling to keep her new business afloat until she wins a lucrative contract to design a convention center outside Boston. Eric Warren, a partner in the firm that hires her, charms her first over the phone: he's confident, insightful and not threatened by her success—but he's married. They keep their desires in check for a while, but eventually become lovers. The project's success creates new business opportunities, and Breck moves close to Boston with her colleague and confidante, sexy Chi Tanaka, and expands into retail with a small but profitable coffeehouse. Despite close calls, Eric and Breck keep their relationship under wraps until Breck becomes pregnant. The new baby brings happiness and hardship; Eric plays a part-time father to two families. The romance blooms and fades amid heavy-handed prose and speechified dialogue ("I don't think the problem is that I can't love two women. The problem is that I can't have two women," Eric says. "Society doesn't accept it, so that makes me an awful person"). When Breck finally ends the relationship, Eric makes an about-face and decides to leave his wife. Tragedy intervenes, but so close to the end of the novel that only a few dozen pages are devoted to its aftermath. A modern romance—full of great sex and plenty of conflict—Johnson's novel is an autumn beach book: enjoyable if not memorable.