A Family Affair
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by Shirley Hailstock

ISBN: 1583143661
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 320pp
Pub. Date: August 2002
Publisher: BET Books
 

Reviewed by Leah Mullen

Too bad we didn't have wide choices of Black contemporary romances in the 80's when I was reading historical romances. Back then the covers and plots featured blonde beauties in Victorian England. In those books Black characters weren't present except as supporting players, perhaps the nanny or the maid.

Back then, had I picked up something like Shirley Hailstock's recently released novel, "A Family Affair," I would have felt that for Black people, anything was possible. In Family Affair we are presented with a menu of delights that includes Dr. Wesley Cooper, a tall, fine chocolate geneticist who falls in love with the lovely Dr. Brenda Reid, a renowned astronomer.

Brenda, an introverted but beautiful brainiac is reeling in the aftermath of a bad relationship that ended in betrayal, when she meets Wes, the most eligible bachelor on the faculty of a small university in Lake Vista, California.  Brenda spends her time in the observatory researching the universe, and Wes is a pioneer in high profile field of cell generation research.

The setting for the story, Meyers University, is nestled high on the side of a mountain in the Sierras (the closest Black hair salon is in Oregon). At first Brenda resists Wes because she heard through the short, but very effective grapevine that he made a bet with the fellas vowing that he would date her.

In reality the bet was much deeper. One night after yet another bad date Wes promised during a card game with the other science guys that in a year he'd not just find a woman to date, but the perfect woman who would give him a child. Lo and behold, Brenda arrives on campus three months later. Of course, conflict ensues.

Brenda's career is enhanced as she is pursued by NASA, but Wes' efforts to wipe out Spina Bifida and other birth defects falters. I found the career triumphs and professional challenges encountered by Wes and Brenda to be just as interesting as the relationship issues they encountered.

One of the gems in "A Family Affair" was the humorous banter between the two geniuses. At one point Brenda discovered that Wes was following her on a trip she was taking to Orlando.

       "At the last minute I discovered I have to go to Orlando," he began.

        Brenda cocked her head and folded her arms, her stance telling him she did not
        believe that for a minute.

       "At the last minute suddenly you have to get to Orlando and you rush off the  
        mountain in a sure-fire hurry to get on this train? What happened, did Mickey
        call you personally needing an emergency clone of the Disney crowd?"

       "Not exactly. The foundation that supports my research is based in Orlando." He
        paused with a little of the mischievousness she'd come to recognize in his
        eyes. "And I don't do cloning."

The stories found in contemporary African American romances are important both for featuring sizzling modern romance and because they chronicle our age of cell phones, lap top computers, and in the case of "A Family Affair" star map making and the very controversial area of stem cell research.  For readers new to African American romances Family Affair is an excellent book with which to take the plunge.