This Bitter Earth. (fiction reviews).

This Bitter Earth by Bernice L. McFadden Dutton, February 2002, $23.95 ISBN-0-525-94636-5

In this beautifully written follow-up to her debut novel, Sugar, Bernice L. McFadden continues to chronicle the hapless life of Sugar Lacey, who was born out of wedlock in rural Arkansas, is abandoned by her parents at birth, and eventually becomes a prostitute.

This Bitter Earth, set in the mid-1950s, opens with Sugar being mutilated and left for dead. She manages to make her way to the home of the Lacey sisters--brothel owners who end up raising her. While recuperating at their home, Sugar learns about her parents' history, her blood relatives, and why murder, fatal illness and heartache plague her family. A jealous playboy and voodoo are at the root of the family's dark history. With the truth revealed, Sugar attempts to battle the evil forces by doing good works: giving up prostitution, helping a heroin addict to recover, exposing a murderer, and trying to establish a relationship with the remaining members of her family.

McFadden has created an ambitious and dramatic story that is part murder mystery, part love story and part herstory. While the author's engaging, rich and wickedly damaged characters breathe life into this complex tale, the plotline is problematic, and the story eventually falls apart.

Had McFadden excised unnecessary characters and eliminated one of the subplots, This Bitter Earth might have been a more fluid and coherent read. Even with these mis-steps, McFadden weaves an interesting tale about bitterness so palpable it stifles everyone in Sugar's world.

--Lynda Jones is an editor and author of Great Black Heroes: Five Great Black Writers.