xii, 265 pp. "From the highly acclaimed author of the classic A Piece of Mine comes a magnificent collection of stories about ordinary women who discover that love sometimes comes when you least expect it. Passionately re-creating the lives of "just everyday people trying to live every day," J. California Cooper limns the mysterious way in which people discover what is important. Maisha, the narrator of "A Shooting Star," chronicles the much-gossiped-about affairs of her friend Lorene and laments her inability to differentiate between sex and love. In "The Eagle Flies," Vinnie, a single mother, devotes herself to her selfish children, letting opportunities for her own happiness slip by until it is almost too late. In "A Filet of Soul," Louella, raised to believe she is ugly and undesirable, falls for a fast-talking con man and loses her small inheritance and her dignity; but his betrayal turns out to mark the beginning of a love affair-and a life-Louella had never imagined she would find. In the final story of this collection, "The Lost and the Found," Lorene waits and waits for the philanderer she loves to marry her, almost letting the love of a good man pass her by. A master storyteller in the full blossom of her talents, Cooper will encourage those with even the most closed hearts to wake up and live."
