Back in my college days, we called it "open to close." You go to the bar when it opens and drink all day until it's over. This is a bad analogy, but that's what came to mind yesterday when I realized I was going to read this book in one day. I simply could not put it down.
To be fair, I did put it down briefly. I went to the gym, took a shower, did some laundry, made dinner... But, for the most part, my entire rainy Sunday was spent with this book attached to my hand. I fell so deeply into the characters right away, I had to know what happened to them, even as I felt them careening towards disaster.
The book is about a white woman named Sidonie who hires, then begins dating, a black man to work at her nightclub. Somehow, the chemistry between these two jumps off the pages and you find yourself building with anticipation for when they finally end up together. From the beginning, there are cultural issues that turn both of their worlds upside down. She's with him when he's randomly pulled over by police. She can't understand why he's not outraged at the unfairness of it all. When she shares their relationship with people she loves, she finds out their racial biases that she never knew existed. All along, you root for them. Then, a violent arrest and a legal case tests whether this relationship can overcome the cultural differences.
At times, it had a Romeo and Juliet vibe. At times, it felt like cliche. But, cliches exist for a reason. Overall, it just worked. The writing was clean, the story was straightforward and the characters were real enough that you really rooted for them. And, I think it shines a light on the biases we all have about relationships, culture, bias, policing and prejudice - whether we want to acknowledge them or not.
Any book that you can start at 9 am and finish at 10 pm begs to be celebrated. Open to close.
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