The author of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf presents a lyrical exploration of one black woman's psyche by her friends, lovers, and herself, set against racially divided Mississippi and Queens, New York. Exotic and gritty like its heroine, pretentious and yet painfully real, Shange's third novel (following Betsey Brown, LJ 5/15/85) revels in its counterpoints and surprises. Troubled, alluring artist Liliane moves with grace but carries the baggage of familiar unrest and personal tragedy. Shange reveals her intriguing protagonist through her distinctive choices of lovers and friends, which alternate with conversations between Liliane and her analyst as Liliane searches for her lost mother. Evocations of genteel black Queens, vibrant and dangerous Alphabet City, and moody, sensuous Morocco provide a vivid backdrop for episodes of sex, storytelling, childhood drama, and adult thirst. Musical, erotic, and scathingly reactive to racial history, this is a natural for admirers of Anais Nin (to whom Shange makes a nod) and of Shange's more celebrated contemporaries Paule Marshall and Toni Morrison. Warmly recommended. --Janet Ingraham, Worthington P.L., Ohio Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. Although nearly 10 years have gone by since Shange's last novel, Betsey Brown (1985), her distinctive narrative style and thematic focus haven't changed. Shange is still a more potent poet and playwright than novelist, so her new work of fiction is episodic, inlaid with lush and earthy images, and electric with to-the-beat dialogue that just begs for the give-and-take of a live performance. The novel has some flaws, but it has a strong presence and covers a lot of psychological and cultural territory. Liliane epitomizes Shange's ideal black woman--a profoundly sensual and artistic renegade haunted by the suffering of people of color and her lost loved ones. The daughter of an ambitious, domineering father and a beautiful, selfish mother, Liliane grew up politicized as well as deeply attuned to beauty, eroticism, and the sharp pleasure of living a self-directed life. Shange conducts a rough-and-ready little chorus of friends, cousins, and lovers to tell Liliane's complex and emblematic story. Several chapters are narrated by one of Liliane's more alluring and amusing lovers, Victor-J{‚}esus Mar{¡}ia, while other sections document Liliane's sessions with her analyst. This is a novel with personality: it's moody, inconsistent, and frustrating. You admire it, learn from it, desire it, and resist it all at the same time. Donna Seaman