Just My Luck

January 31, 2005
Multiple twists of fate enliven this familiar tale of a young black woman's rise from poverty by an Essence
bestselling author. Luck has smiled on Lanita Lightfoot since birth: when her mother, Aretha, goes into labor during the Watts riots, the crowd spares the store where she has taken refuge; in return, the grateful owner gives them a free apartment and financial help. Twelve years later, though, the owner's son evicts them, and they're thrust into poverty, while Aretha's starting to seem like "an outright alcoholic." Things look up when Lanita makes a new friend and her father appears—but neither sticks around. A librarian plays Lanita's fairy godmother this time, guiding her on a path that takes her to Howard University, where Lanita thrives until Aretha's illness forces her to drop out and become a stripper. There's more roller-coastering to come, but there's never any doubt that Lanita will triumph (nor should there be). But credibility is strained by more than the plot: the narrative unfolds during a salon visit in which Lanita so charms the staff her visit is free, and so many celebrities cross her path (the Jackson Five, Len Bias, Hugh Hefner) she ought to be in the autograph business. Butler's (The Night Before Thirty
) latest novel is like cotton candy: sweet and fleeting, lasting for a moment before it dissolves. Agent, Sarah Lazin.