Book Nook - Black Girls Must Have It All

 

Jayne Allen is back with BLACK GIRLS MUST HAVE IT ALL (Harper Perennial, April 4^th), the 3^rd installment in her enormously successful series. As the series comes to close, Jayne’s main character Tabitha finds herself in possession of not only the life she wanted but the one she needed, and still there is another lesson to learn—even mothers have to learn how to “mother” themselves.

The series has been hailed by Good Morning America as both “[m]asterfully written and pitch perfect” and “a true testament to the stresses on women today and how great girlfriends (and grandmothers) are often the key to our sanity.”  The New York Times Book Review boasted of how Allen shows “the relentlessness of the trauma Black women deal with every day leavened with the solidarity of friends who can relate.” Others agree, with Popsugar calling it “[e]motional, funny, and heartbreakingly real” and Essence proclaiming that readers “will find themselves deeply invested…and will recognize their own relationships in her enduring bonds with her homegirls.” Shondaland captures the magic of Allen’s work perfectly: “Black Girls Must Die Exhausted [the first book] encapsulates the infinite expectations and challenges thrown in the direction of Black women while also confronting the ways women are gaslit and thrown into impossible situations that they have no choice but to overcome. This is a novel about female friendship, the weight of the future, and learning to accept that you can want what you truly want.” Needless to say, the excitement is high for this highly anticipated conclusion to the series!

In this final installment in the acclaimed Black Girls Must Die Exhausted trilogy, Tabitha is juggling work, relationships, and a newborn baby—but will she find the happy ending she’s always wanted?

After a whirlwind year, Tabitha Walker’s carefully organized plan to achieve the life she wanted—perfect job, dream husband, and stylish home—has gone off the rails. Her checklist now consists of diapers changed (infinite), showers taken (zero), tears cried (buckets), and hours of sleep (what’s that?). Don't get her wrong, Tabby loves her new bundle of joy and motherhood is perhaps the only thing that's consistent for her these days. When the news station announces that they will be hiring outside competitors for the new anchor position, Tabby throws herself into her work. But it’s not just maintaining her position as the station’s weekend anchor that has her worried. All of her relationships seem to be shifting out of their regular orbits. Best friend Alexis can’t manage to strike the right balance in her “refurbished” marriage with Rob, and Laila’s gone from being a consistent ride-or-die to a newly minted entrepreneur trying to raise capital for her growing business. And when Marc presents her with an ultimatum about their relationship, coupled with an extended “visit” from his mother, Tabby is forced to take stock of her life and make a new plan for the future. Consumed by work, motherhood, and love, Tabby finds herself isolated from her friends and family just when she needs them most. But help is always there when you ask for it, and Tabby’s village will once again rally around her as she comes to terms with her new life and faces her biggest challenge yet—choosing herself.

BLACK GIRLS MUST HAVE IT ALL brings the series to a rousing conclusion with the perfect blend of highly-readable commercial fiction and significant relatable issues such as infertility, Black maternal health, mental health, infidelity, familial and romantic love, and female friendships. In her final bow (for the series!), Allen presents an undiluted perspective and continues to pull the reader into experiences of race, contemporary womanhood, and modern relationships to learn the hidden lessons that bring us closer together.

Jayne Allen is the pen name of Jaunique Sealey, a graduate of Duke University and Harvard Law School. An avid traveler, she speaks three languages and has visited five continents. Drawing from her unique experiences as an attorney and entrepreneur, she crafts transcultural stories that touch upon contemporary women’s issues such as workplace and career dynamics, race, fertility, modern relationships and mental health awareness. Her writing echoes her desire to bring both multiculturalism and multidimensionality to a rich and colorful cast of characters inspired by the magic uncovered in everyday life. She calls the Black Girls Must Die Exhausted series “the epitaph of my 30s.” A proud native of Detroit, she currently lives in Los Angeles.