Sassy
by Valerie Howard
Copyright: © 2008
$19.95 Paperback
$19.95 E-Book
157 Pages
ISBN: 9781435708679
Sassy is not just the nickname for Cecilia Richards, it’s her namesake. She is Miss Priss, Miss Thang, and Miss Manners all rolled into one. She is quick to judge and to tell her friends what she thinks of their business, but you best not be sticking your nose in hers. Sassy is written by Valerie Howard, and not since early E. Lynn Harris or Eric Jerome Dickey have I read such a fun, enthralling, and gossipy tale.
Sassy is always right, even when she’s wrong. She prides herself on letting her friends know when they are out of place by pointing out their imperfections. Her best friend, Amber, is involved in a torrid affair with a married man. Sassy’s neighbor, Jayna, holds a deep dark secretive past, keeping it from her own husband, and has just joined Sassy’s church. Being a top executive, Sassy believes that to stay on top you must always tell the truth. And the truth hurts!
But Sassy is not without fault. Rather than cherishing her close friendships, she risks losing them because of the way she’s been judging her friends. Her boyfriend, Darnell, is losing interest in her as he focuses his energy on becoming a successful recording artist. And Sassy also risks her reputation with her employer by making bad decisions that could have cost her company a ton of money.
A good job, strong faith, a loyal man, and close loving friends, you’d think Cecilia has it all and she practically does. But with her eyes focused on her own personal order and materialistic gain, she loses focus on the relationships and values that should be most important. She thinks she has everything and everyone figured out, but her attention is being drawn in the wrong direction.
Her wake up call comes when Darnell is tempted by the star of his music video, and her employer contemplates which ad exec will help her with a multimilllion dollar ad campaign without consulting her. These slaps to the face help to wake up Cecilia and open her eyes to the the true values in life that are right in front of her. The heart of the novel really hits home here for those of us who are fast forwarding through life and forgetting those things that should be more important to us!
My only qualm with Ms. Howard’s debut novel is that it is awfully short. Howard has a true gift for creating memorable characters, comparable to Harris’s own Raymond, Tyler, and Nicole who’ve we grown to love over the years. But just as you really feel like you are sitting down with these characters and getting wrapped up in their dramas, they are quickly resolved and we move on to the next. There is not enough time spent with each storyline to really have a chance to absorb it. I wanted to know these characters just a bit more.
But, I could definitely see Sassy and Darnell becoming the focus of a string of novels. With a bit more attention to developing and playing out her characters and their intricate plots, I know Valerie Howard could top the list in popular African American fiction today! Kudos to her and her “sassy” novel!
