The Night Before Thirty

At first glance, you couldn’t find five women more different.

Catara is a personal shopper in New York who dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Embarrassed by her weight, she lets a lack of self-confidence derail her goals. In Atlanta, Lashawnda has gone from a string of bad relationships with men into one with a woman that doesn’t seem much better. Elise is realizing her dream of opening up a gymnastics school in Louisville, Kentucky, but between working and taking care of her grandmother, she can’t find much time to nurture herself. Tanya’s relationship with her boyfriend is at the breaking point. She’s ready to leave Chicago and fast city living to settle down and have a family, but her man isn’t on the same page. Alecia lives in Los Angeles and has been getting by on her looks for a long time, but when her (married) boyfriend makes it clear that his wife comes first, she has to realize that beauty fades and she must prepare for her future.

But these women do have something in common—they all share the same birthday and are about to turn thirty. When the number one syndicated black radio show in the country sponsors a Night Before Thirty Getaway Weekend, these women meet, and while their time together is brief, the impact they have upon one another’s lives is everlasting.

From the Hardcover edition.

New, from the number one bestselling author of Hand-me-down Heartache and Sorority Sisters, a novel about five women on the verge of turning thirty, whose lives are changed forever when they meet through a national radio contest

At first glance, you couldn’t find five women more different.

Catara is a personal shopper in New York who dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Embarrassed by her weight, she lets a lack of self-confidence derail her goals. In Atlanta, Lashawnda has gone from a string of bad relationships with men into one with a woman that doesn’t seem much better. Elise is realizing her dream of opening up a gymnastics school in Louisville, Kentucky, but between working and taking care of her grandmother, she can’t find much time to nurture herself. Tanya’s relationship with her boyfriend is at the breaking point. She’s ready to leave Chicago and fast city living to settle down and have a family, but her man isn’t on the same page. Alecia lives in Los Angeles and has been getting by on her looks for a long time, but when her (married) boyfriend makes it clear that his wife comes first, she has to realize that beauty fades and she must prepare for her future.

But these women do have something in common—they all share the same birthday and are about to turn thirty. When the number one syndicated black radio show in the country sponsors a Night Before Thirty Getaway Weekend, these women meet, and while their time together is brief, the impact they have upon one another’s lives is everlasting.

Kirkus Reviews

Five near-30 women win a contest and come together for a celebration of shopping and sisterhood. Butler (Hand-Me-Down Heartache, 2001) continues her assault on the English language with another story straddling the line between modern genre romance and words splashed randomly on the page. In this world of uppity African-American women hugely successful despite adolescent mindsets, the only real problem is that everyone keeps falling for the wrong man--partly because all men are wrong. We first meet the women individually: Catara is voluptuous, not fat, but it still hurts when her date turns out to be a sophisticated ploy for a loan; Alecia is beautiful and knows it, but when she's attracted to William, she has to remind herself, "Wait a minute. I am the shit. He's the one who should be excited"; Tanya knows how to please her drug-dealing beau, "the kind of nigga that didn't take no shit, but she could tell he had a gentle side"; Elise is worried about her attraction to a coworker; and when Lawshanda's boss hits on her with a cheesy line about kissing her in all the right places, Lawshanda thinks, "She did deserve those things, and she longed for them." Before the women all win their radio contest and head for the tropics, we'll deal with ex-wives, drive-bys, and muggings--but then it'll be all shopping, cruises, and loads of confessional bonding. Butler aims low and even then fails to hit her mark in an effort cumbered throughout by writing as clumsy as her concepts are simple. Marketing campaign aside, this is about as bad as it gets.

Tajuana “TJ” Butler is the author of the novel Sorority Sisters and the number one Essence magazine bestseller Hand-me-down Heartache. She has published a collection of poetry, Desires of a Woman, and is a gifted public speaker. She lives in Los Angeles. For more information about Butler and her books, publicity tour, and other news, visit her website at www.tjbutler.com.