Four Women
by Nikesha Elise WIlliams
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This is the first novel by Nikesha Elise Williams who has previously posted here under the pseudonym "The Storyteller" but now does so under her government name. So to say the least I was somewhat interested in reading it. People say that you should write what you know so I am not surprised that one of the book's titular women works as a television news anchor. Nikesha works as a television producer. So there is a great deal of insight into the behind the scenes television news business and the nasty competition which often occurs there. Ratings are what matter above everything else. If someone is producing really good ratings then that person can get away with a lot of insubordination, passive-aggressive unpleasantness or just outright nastiness. Apparently no one in a position of authority really cares about too much besides ratings and the resulting advertising revenue. If you're too old or too ugly or too retiring or too whatever then you either won't be on the television screen or won't stay there for very long. And especially for women in front of the camera, there's always someone younger, prettier or with a better figure who is gunning for their job. I think the book is at its strongest when it focuses on the newsroom narrative. There are some other things in the book which may or may not be loosely inspired by things Nikesha has mentioned about her life. Four Women jumps back and forth between first person and third person point of view, depending on the character, which was initially a little jarring. Eventually I got used to it. As you can tell from the title this book is about four women in the Jacksonville, Florida area. Although they don't know it yet, they either have something in common or will make decisions which deeply impact each other over the novel's timeline. This group includes:
Dawn: a brassy local news/discussion show anchor and managing editor/producer whose ambition and attitude cause her to butt heads continually with both her news director and some of the other talent on the station. Dawn is going places. You can come along for the ride or you can get out of her way. Your choice. Dawn won't lose sleep over your decision.
Jonelle: a depressed surgeon who's in tragic denial about a serious and growing drinking problem.
Ebony: an exercise instructor who thinks very highly of herself but refuses to share family secrets or really much of anything with her assistant prosecutor fiance.
Soleil: a teacher who's in a physically abusive relationship with a local judge named Barker Gordon. It's immediately obvious to most people that Gordon is not good to her or even good for her.
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I didn't care for Gordon's character, not because I have any truck with abusive people of either gender, but because Soleil's internal dialogue makes it crystal clear from the book's very first page that Gordon is a selfish, destructive and utterly inept lover. He literally doesn't know what he's doing and worse, doesn't care. As we all know there are nasty degrading words and phrases which, depending on context, can be used to insult or to excite greater sexual interest. There is the old Chris Rock joke about a man being kicked out of the bedroom because in the heat of the moment he playfully used words which (considering what his woman was saying to him at the time) he found acceptable but his woman did not. Gordon uses words like that during sex but also uses such terms as forms of direct address, which for 99.9% of sane women, is never acceptable. He's prone to saying things like "B****, I'm talking to you!" or "C***, make me a sandwich!" in a totally non-ironic way. He also likes to abuse women publicly. So Gordon didn't quite ring true to me because he was too obvious in his evil and because there wasn't enough to explain why any woman would want to be with him for the long term. I would have understood the character a bit more if there was some explanation of his warped worldview or perhaps some more description of the good things he could provide to women on the rare days when he wasn't actually slapping them upside the head (i.e. sense of humor, shopping trips, money, clothes, excitement, proximity to power,intimate superpowers, emotional validation, etc.). Or maybe he just has a sixth sense about finding masochistic women. I have heard there are some people like that.
Gordon unwittingly provides the catalyst for an event which upsets the local social and political situation and will disrupt each of the women's lives. Each woman will be challenged in an unforeseen way. As George Clinton would say, some of them will rise above it all while others will drown in their own ****. The reader will recognize some real life events which Nikesha has deftly used for inspiration. The reader also will doubtless appreciate that the book takes a deeper dive into some of the themes Nikesha has explored here over the years. She has a lot to say about child safety, domestic violence, colorism, and how perceptions of how we view each other can become reality. I liked Jonelle the best among the primary protagonists. I found Dawn and Ebony a bit too hard edged. This is an extremely detailed book full of sensual description. People do the do a lot. The story has a very feminine sensibility. Whereas some books overflow with visual description,this book was very heavy on tactile imagery. It is true that there is a difference in the things that the genders notice first or find important. Four Women wasn't my normal fare but all in all I found it worthwhile. There's a sly sense of humor which threads its way throughout the story and pops up unexpectedly. You can learn more about Nikesha and how to get her book here.
by Nikesha Elise WIlliams
Dawn: a brassy local news/discussion show anchor and managing editor/producer whose ambition and attitude cause her to butt heads continually with both her news director and some of the other talent on the station. Dawn is going places. You can come along for the ride or you can get out of her way. Your choice. Dawn won't lose sleep over your decision.
Jonelle: a depressed surgeon who's in tragic denial about a serious and growing drinking problem.
Ebony: an exercise instructor who thinks very highly of herself but refuses to share family secrets or really much of anything with her assistant prosecutor fiance.
Soleil: a teacher who's in a physically abusive relationship with a local judge named Barker Gordon. It's immediately obvious to most people that Gordon is not good to her or even good for her.
Gordon unwittingly provides the catalyst for an event which upsets the local social and political situation and will disrupt each of the women's lives. Each woman will be challenged in an unforeseen way. As George Clinton would say, some of them will rise above it all while others will drown in their own ****. The reader will recognize some real life events which Nikesha has deftly used for inspiration. The reader also will doubtless appreciate that the book takes a deeper dive into some of the themes Nikesha has explored here over the years. She has a lot to say about child safety, domestic violence, colorism, and how perceptions of how we view each other can become reality. I liked Jonelle the best among the primary protagonists. I found Dawn and Ebony a bit too hard edged. This is an extremely detailed book full of sensual description. People do the do a lot. The story has a very feminine sensibility. Whereas some books overflow with visual description,this book was very heavy on tactile imagery. It is true that there is a difference in the things that the genders notice first or find important. Four Women wasn't my normal fare but all in all I found it worthwhile. There's a sly sense of humor which threads its way throughout the story and pops up unexpectedly. You can learn more about Nikesha and how to get her book here.