The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 24 June 2000
by Thulani Davis
Alex Decatur falls mysteriously to her death on a dark and disturbing night in a bustling multi-ethnic New York City neighborhood. Her best friend, Bird, is convinced that Alex's lover, a widely known art critic, is responsible. The book seems to open as an almost conventional murder mystery, but it quickly evolves into a compelling tale of friendship, love, and living in an obscure corner of the art scene. Both Bird and Alex were artists. Both had African roots, but came from different cultures. Bird had long ago given up her painting when Frank Burton scathingly reviewed her work. Alex fell in with Frank as well, but somehow ended up enduring his cruelty and suspicions. After Alex's death, Bird goes on a journey of exploration. Thulani Davis explores Bird's past, her friendships, and the powerful imagery with which she and Alex surrounded themselves. Bird discovers Alex's videotaped diaries, and searches for clues to Frank's behavior on the night of her fatal plunge. Soon, it is clear someone else is looking for something in the tapes, and Bird sets out to trap whoever that may be. Still, the mystery, the suspense, are really just a backdrop to Davis' exploration of these people. At times, the book is touching and brilliant. At others, confusing in its milieu of characters. Yet it is a powerful book, a well-told story, with a human and humane outcome.