SCULPTURED NAILS AND NAPPY HAIR by Lincoln Park
Lulu Press, September 2005
244 Pages, Paperback, $14.94
ISBN: 1411640624
Genre: Short Stories (Fiction)


RAW Rating: 3.5
Amazon Rating: 4


Looking for love


Before opening the book SCULPTURED NAILS AND NAPPY HAIR, I tried to visualize what the book would be about. In my mind's eye, I saw divas--proud Black women who made sure they were always immaculately groomed, who wore their natural hair proudly, and flaunted their pride in being Black like a banner. I was sorely mistaken! Although there are Black women in the four stories that compile the book, it is about life, and survival at any cost, and all of the women were more concerned with whether or not they could pay the month's rent than the condition of their nails and hair!


I quickly realized that the titles of the stories had very little to do with the stories themselves. I kept wondering if the book title itself would ever be mentioned, and when it was, it was not a significant moment, just a simple observation by one of the characters.


"The Mimosa Tree" is about a woman who will do anything and everything for love. Abandoned by her father at the age of 10, she looks for love with her neighbor, who takes her virginity at age 13. However, the love of her life is Marcus Tygers, whom she met in high school. Once he goes into the Air Force after graduation, she travels to see him every weekend she can. Although Marcus tries to discourage her constant visits, she is determined he's the love of her life, and she refuses to let him go.


"To Cut a Diamond" is Margaret and Marine's story. Margaret, called "Kiki" in the story, is the wife of Abdul, a "Black entrepreneur/con man" who she marries two weeks after meeting him. He introduces her to drugs and cheats on her with a series of women throughout the story. Marine is one of the women who Abdul has been seeing, and her confrontations with Kiki are some of the most unique I have ever witnessed between a wife and a mistress.


"Yellow Jacket" is the sad saga of a woman who wants bigger, better and more, and will do whatever it takes to have the finer things in life. Crimsonne Redd is a woman with a mission--to have her own marketing firm. In order to do that, she takes all types of unsavory side jobs to finance her business, Redd Hott Enterprise, by working as a stripper and a specialized call girl.


The final story, "Aurora Borealis," is the story of Lark, who falls in love with an Italian named Emilio. They meet in Alaska, where she is able to actually see the Aurora Borealis, from which the story obtains its title.


Lincoln Park weaves her tales in such a way that all of your emotions get involved--but each of the women in this book had me sighing in pity, because all of them were looking for the type of love they would never find. Park is a gifted writer, and I enjoyed the book, although the characters sometimes irritated me because of their extreme stupidity!


Reviewed by Rowena Winfrey
for The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
http://www.rawsistaz.com
http://www.blackbookreviews.net
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