Some Things I Never Thought I’d Do by Pearl Cleage is somewhat of an urban fantasy romance. The story opens in Washington D.C. with Regina Burns having just returned home from rehab and is on the verge of losing the family home. With the guidance of her Aunt Abbie, she returns to Atlanta where all her problems began, the intention being to raise the required cash to appease the banker who half-heartedly wants to help her save the house that the aunt has mysteriously taken up residence in during her absence. The plot quickly shifts gears to Atlanta, Georgia where she meets Blue Hamilton, a savior of sorts from a past life. After a short courtship, the two fall madly in love and live happily ever-after. If only it could be that simple.

Pearl Cleage is one of my favorite storytellers; she has the gift of turning even the worst of situations into something poetic and beautiful. I truly love her love affair with black love. However, Some Things I Never Thought I’d Do forces even the most die-hard Cleage fan to stretch their imagination, to let go of some strong beliefs, and to simply accept what is given as something beautiful and graceful, and right—even when we know it’s all wrong.

The story is set in what I am assuming is a bad part of Atlanta, known as West End. I tried to picture this neighborhood, as I was recently in Atlanta and a morning walk to Publix led me past an apartment complex by that name. In the book, West End has been cleaned up and turned into a model area. Regina is inspired by the fact that women and children are no longer suffering at the hands of their male counterparts. She soon learns that the person responsible for this urban renewal is a “one-hit wonder” R & B singer by the name of Blue Hamilton. Blue, gets his name from his unusual eyes, which can go from the color of the ocean to sapphire to aqua, depending on his mood. I tried really hard to envision this fine dark-skinned brother with blue eyes but my mind kept going back some twenty years when I actually worked with a guy who fit Blues description except his were contacts and no one thought the look was sexy or cute.

I felt at times that Cleage made things too convenient and too much was handed to me on a silver platter. This is where her great storytelling abilities come into play because it makes the reader want to stay with the story no matter how unbelievable the plot. My true problem with the plot was the notion that black men are at the root of all that is wrong in black communities and if we ostracize the black man from the black woman and child then the world is somehow a better place. The rational part of me wanted to look back to when slavery tore the black family apart, and the slave owner decided which families stayed in tact and to what extent. But Some Things I Never Thought I’d Do told me I had to believe in the dream of crime-free streets wher children can play without fear, prosperous black-owned businesses, and a neighborhood where everyone knows your name and gardens together. In order to go along with the tranquility of the setting I had to believe in Blue and his good Godfather mentality, and everything he did, right or wrong, was for the women and children. So by falling for this fallacy I also had to believe that Regina was the luckiest woman in the world to have not only been chosen by him in a previous life but yet again in this one. So I decided to go with the flow and allowed myself to enjoy the story.

At the time I picked up Some Things I Never Thought I’d Do, I also grabbed another Cleage novel titled Baby Brother’s Blues, which happens to be the third in a series, so lookout for my review. For this one, I give Cleage 4 stars.

Much Love,


Tracy

Tracy L. Darity is the author of He Loves Me He Loves Me Not! and Love…Like Snow In Florida on a Hot Summer Day. Her third novel, The Red Bear Society will be released December 1, 2011. For more information visit www.TracyLDarity.com.