Black Cake

Charmaine Wilkerson's Black Cake presents a lively historical saga of a family that survived over the generations. A brilliant title, Black Cake, an island dessert and metaphor for the Caribbean traditions, is the theme running throughout the story.

Readers will relate to Black Cake, which covers family estrangement, secrets, misunderstandings, and redemption. The reader gets insights from many character viewpoints, which may seem confusing and scattered but wraps up neatly at the end.

The Necklace

What if the person you think murdered your child is not the right one? Matt Witten’s The Necklace explores that issue in a mother’s quest to seek justice after twenty years. The Necklace has all the elements of a mystery thriller: adventure, danger, suspense, and even romance in this fictionalized true story.

Witten’s experience as a TV writer in creating great scenes and his knowledge of the execution process make The Necklace a gripping, nail-biting story. The protagonist Susan is a scrappy, strong-willed, and gutsy woman who challenges the criminal justice system and societal norms to find her daughter’s killer.

L.A. Weather

L.A. Weather weaves the themes of family and weather into this complex novel of a Mexican American family living in Los Angeles. Eye-opening, mesmerizing and thought-provoking, author Maria Amparo Escandon presents a year in the life of the Alvarado family as they cope with everyday trials and disasters. How will they survive the challenges attempting to break them apart?

I enjoyed the descriptions and references to Southern California destinations and culture. Escandon brilliantly meshes both Jewish and Mexican traditions represented by Oscar and Keila in raising their three daughters and grandchildren. The novel expressed the modern-day issues that all families can relate to with wit, humor, and love.