Sometimes an author will try writing a novel in a different
genre. Of course, she sometimes succeeds in writing a good story and sometimes
not. Evelyn Coleman is the author of many
children’s books. In 1998, she wrote an “adult thriller.” What A Woman’s Gotta Do is
her first and apparently only adult novel.
When
her fiancée Kenneth Lawson fails to show up at the courthouse so they can get
married, a disappointed Patricia Conley, the protagonist/narrator, sits for
several hours in the restroom crying. When she leaves the courthouse, she is
pissed off at Kenneth for standing her up. She becomes even more pissed off
when she stops in a cafe near the courthouse and sees him sitting in a back
booth with another woman.
When two
detectives show up at her house later and question her about her car, she fear
something bad has happened to Kenneth. The car was found behind the restaurant
with the keys still in it and blood on the steering wheel and seat. She doesn’t
tell them Kenneth had been driving it. She claims someone broke into her garage
and stole it. Why would she lie? She is a journalist and feels the need to find
out herself what happened. Besides, she, having grown up in foster homes,
learned you don’t rat on anybody. She must find out if Kenneth is dead and if
so who killed him. If he is alive, she intends to kick his butt for standing
her up.
In her
search for Kenneth, Patricia has to fight two super villains—a geneticist and
his wealthy backer. Both white men, driven by greed, want to exploit a genetic
discovery the geneticist stole from an African tribe, the Dogon. To say what
the discovery was would be a spoiler, but, trust me, the way in which each
villain wants to use the knowledge is a surprise.
The
plot of What A Woman’s Gotta Do has
all the necessary elements (heavy doses of violence and a modicum sex) of a
thriller. Coleman’s detailed descriptions of the Dogon religious view of the
world, which she neatly weaves into the plot, sent me to Wikipedia. The Dogon
are a real tribe living in Mali in West Africa. I like the idea of a real
African tribe functioning as a fictional character in a plot in which the
Africans acquired scientific knowledge a long time ago that the white folks are
only beginning to acquire. Coleman clearly did an excellent job in researching
the Dogon culture. But good research doesn't make a good story.
Unfortunately,
Patricia Conley, the main character, is not strong enough to be a super heroine.
She is an investigative journalist on the Atlanta Guardian newspaper. She also is
a former alcoholic and skilled in the martial arts, which makes her a tough
customer for men to deal with. Fire, closeness, and anything to do with God or
spirit scares her, which explains why she considers herself a lost soul looking
for someone to love her. “Shit” is her favorite word because “For some reason,
an I-don't-give-a-shit attitude and a sailor's gruff will take you a long way
at a newspaper. That and cursing like one." Her only friend Carol, a
reporter on the Atlanta Guardian, also uses “shit” a lot, making her sound
exactly like Patricia.
I
neither like nor dislike Patricia. Since she elicits no emotional reaction, she
fails to achieve super heroineness. If one member of a musical duet is off key,
the result is a bad performance. In a story, character and plot must be in
harmony. If one element fails, the story may still work, but if both fail, the
story fails. In What A Woman’s Gotta Do,
plot and character don’t harmonize.
Some
of you might well like the novel because the super heroine dodges bullets,
beats up a couple of bad guys, figures out what the super villains are up to,
and has a hate/love affair with a nice man.
