BLACK GIRL WHITE GIRL

A white woman recalls her prickly black college roommate of 15 years previous, who died under mysterious circumstances. In the 1970s, Genna, the well-to-do daughter of a "radiclib" attorney and a former hippie, championed and endured the underprivileged preacher's daughter at a predominantly white institution, where racial tensions ran high. Not a murder mystery this, but the kind of social and psychological probing one expects from this provocative author. Anna Fields reads with the same sort of intelligence and precision that Oates gives her writing. But the first-person narrative seems to demand personalization, a deep immersion into the character and her emotions. Fields only reads--sounding accurate but detached. Y.R. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 07]