It's Not All Downhill from Here by Terry McMillan

“More Myself: A Journey,” by Alicia Keys (Flatiron, nonfiction, on sale March 31) The buzz: “This delightful novel balances inspiration for renewal with the hard facts of aging,” says a starred review in Publishers Weekly.Ģ. From the bestselling author of “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and “Waiting to Exhale.” What it’s about: When a sudden loss upends Loretha Curry’s full and happy life, she and her loyal friends band together to figure out how to keep thriving. “It’s Not All Downhill from Here,” by Terry McMillan (Ballantine, fiction, on sale March 31) This is another winner from McMillan.In search of something good to read? USA TODAY's Barbara VanDenburgh scopes out the shelves for this week’s hottest new book releases.ġ. McMillan has no trouble creating a crowd-pleaser-even her “unlikable” women redeem themselves in the end-but she also promotes radical self-love for her characters, whether it’s through taking care of their bodies, minds and spirits, deciding who to love or deciding, indeed, whether to live at all.

Loretha, who’s a bit hefty and loves her soul food, finds out she has diabetes.

Relations with her twin half-sister are sketchy, and her daughter is anchorless and an alcoholic. An early tragedy in the book sends Loretha reeling, though her loved ones rally around her. Loretha, generous with both her love and her money, adores them right back. Her granddaughter Cinnamon adores her, as does her son, Jackson, who lives in Tokyo with his wife and two girls. Loretha’s mother is still alive and a corker. Loretha has a fiercely loyal posse of girlfriends she’s known for decades, including statuesque Korynthia, mean-spirited Lucky, sort of God-fearing Sadie and long-suffering Poochie, a character as close to Beth March as you’re going to get in a McMillan novel. Her third husband, Carl, is doting and, despite his arthritis, ready, willing and able when he takes his little blue pill. The owner of a successful beauty product business, Loretha is rich both monetarily and in most of her relationships. In her latest novel, the narrator and star of the show is Loretha Curry, who is turning 68 (the same age as the author!). McMillan claims she writes about things that break her heart, but she clearly also writes about what makes her laugh or shake her head in gentle bemusement. She continues with the hilarious, poignant and bighearted It’s Not All Downhill From Here. For over 30 years, Terry McMillan has delighted readers with tales of the lives, loves, foibles and triumphs of black women.

It's Not All Downhill from Here by Terry McMillan