Homemade Love

Homemade Love

Awed, bedevilled, and bemused, all Cooper's characters are borne up by the sheer power of life itself in these wise and exhilarating stories from Cooper's newest book. Homemade Love is "Love that is not bought, not wrapped in fancy packages with glib lines that often lie." The stories in this collection are narrated by friends, relatives, and nosy neighbors, in voices so direct and familiar they sound as if they were talking over the back fence: "Ain't life funny? This life thing will drive you crazy if you let it! Me? I'm a hundred-degree woman and I ain't goin let it! But life is funny, and some people don't know how to live it. They fools!" The obstacles the characters face seem insurmountable, but through real lovin' and hard work, they are overcome. As in life, true love is attained in different ways and according to different needs. There is Dearie B, the "simple" cousin, who cuts a valentine into the exact number of people she loves, and a lonely, unattractive man who eventually finds humor in his disfigurement. These and other stories enlighten, enrich, and satisfy our yearnings for the characters' fulfillment. J. California Cooper espouses the belief that there is someone for everyone, and that someone is probably right here at home. As she says, "All I know is there ain't nothing like love." -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14 . -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Donna Nichols-White