June 12, 2006
Despite her cushy Pasadena life and marriage to the preciously nicknamed "Milky," part-time college teacher Dahlia Chang suffers blackouts and headaches, can't remember a thing about her childhood except her mother dying suddenly and is subject to the malicious jealousy of mysterious bad girl Phoebe. Gradually, Pina (Bliss
) reveals what the reader guesses early on—that Phoebe is an alter ego, the product of a mental trauma Dahlia suffered as a girl. Enter Dahlia's Aunt Baby, who resolves to heal Dahlia, even if it means hauling Dahlia to the plantationlike home in Dallas where she grew up to confront the past. Meanwhile, unaware of his wife's journey, Milky strikes out for Dallas on his own to investigate her mysterious condition and learns from resident grave digger Percival Tweed about Dahlia's sordid family history. Emotions drive this novel; the characters often amount to little more than convenient vehicles that speak and think in either hoary dialect or wooden exchanges. When the living and the dead finally reunite, the book picks up a small bit of suspenseful steam and becomes an affecting story about the power of family love to mend old wounds.
July 1, 2006
"Chasing Sophea "is certainly chasing after "Oprah" fans. This story of a young woman overcoming past traumas offers a heady brew of the supernatural and psychological, with a helping of Southern Gothic. A young wife and mother named Dahlia enjoys a successful career in Southern California. But then a long-buried memory from her childhood resurfaces, threatening to ruin her life. Dahlia -s troubles go back to the tragedies experienced by the Culpepper family in Dallas, who have operated a funeral home for eight generations. The clan includes a black albino gravedigger, a half-Choctaw aunt with healing powers, and an unhappy woman named Mercy Blue who wears only red. Pina ("Bliss") is especially gifted at pacing her story and teasing readers with intriguing flashbacks. You don -t have to be African American to enjoy this suspenseful novel, though it probably helps if you are a female reader. Recommended for any public library." - Leslie Patterson, Blanding P.L., Rehoboth, MA"
Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 1, 2006
Dahlia Chang is suffering a crushing depression, robbing her of the joy of having a devoted husband, loving daughter, and successful career. Her past? Her family? She doesn't remember, and she doesn't want to. As her depression deepens and threatens to completely alienate Dahlia from her family, her husband, Michael, decides to visit Dahlia's family in Dallas. Sensing the danger Dahlia is in, a long-lost great-aunt, who knows the secret behind Dahlia's disappearance and 20-plus-year estrangement from the family, travels to Los Angeles to rescue her great-niece. Dahlia's secret is tied to a family history of mental and emotional instability and the fateful day that tornado Sophea wrecked their lives. Pina, author of" Bliss "(2002)" ," delivers strong characters and an intricate plot.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)
November 1, 2006
In her second novel ("after Bliss"), Pina tells a realistic story but laces it with supernatural effects. Though she's a wife and mother with a successful career, the troubled young protagonist must struggle to overcome tragedies from her childhood involving her Dallas family, which has operated a funeral home for eight generations. ("LJ" 7/06)
Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.