{"id":4507,"date":"2013-06-10T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-10T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=4507"},"modified":"2020-05-08T06:49:36","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T10:49:36","slug":"broken-in-soft-places-by-fiona-zedde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/?p=4507","title":{"rendered":"Broken in Soft Places by Fiona Zedde"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Publisher\/Date:<\/b>\u00a0 Bold Stroke Books, May 2013
\nGenre:<\/b>\u00a0 Bisexual, Romance, Drama
\nPages:<\/b>\u00a0 264
\nWebsite:<\/b>\u00a0 http:\/\/www.fionazedde.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> \"★\"\"★\"\"★\"\"★\"\"★\" <\/p><\/b><\/p>\n

Leave it to Fiona Zedde to come up with a tantalizing theme for her latest book \u2013 polyamory \u2013 a subject that black folks\u00a0might do, but don’t talk candidly about. Being a part of a couple that openly allows <\/em><\/strong>the other to have sex with someone outside their relationship is usually left\u00a0to whispered conversations. Zedde shows us in BROKEN IN SOFT PLACES<\/em><\/strong> that it’s not only possible, but there may be a reason why people engage in or\u00a0stay away from this type of coupling.<\/p>\n

Sara Chambers could never resist the\u00a0enigmatic Rille Thompson since their first meeting at a college party, Sara as an innocent freshman to senior\u00a0Rille’s big-lesbian-on-campus status.\u00a0\u00a0Sara spent a good amount of time wishing Rille could be hers only, however,\u00a0Rille resisted being tied down to anything singular in nature, including her lovers \u2013 be they female or male. Sara and Rille attempted to find freedom in each other for different reasons, but their feverish connection proves combustible right before Rille graduates.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to present day, and the pair found their way back to each other, despite\u00a0the many wounds Rille inflicted on Sara way back when. Much hasn’t changed,\u00a0except now\u00a0Sara\u00a0is\u00a0an attorney and Rille\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0physics professor. And\u00a0they have someone else occupying\u00a0their bed. A man named Steven.<\/p>\n

Sara never liked this arrangement from the start, and it weighs on her, never having Rille to herself, a situation Sara has allowed since their college days. The good thing is Sara recognizes why she stays with Rille, a woman with no self-control, and why being with Rille makes her feel somehow feel whole. Or does it? Can she untangle herself from Rille’s dominance as she allows monogamy to pass her by? Will she keep allowing her heart to be\u00a0baby-sat by a woman someone who doesn’t know what love is?<\/p>\n

Layers upon layers disintegrate\u00a0the more you get to know the people in Broken in Soft Places<\/em>.\u00a0I can’t say enough about the flawless writing Zedde endows the reader, words coming\u00a0together seamlessly and\u00a0alluringly like Zedde knows how to do. She also\u00a0dug deep\u00a0in her portrayal of the war-torn Sara and Steven, and to a smaller extent, Rille. *sigh* Rille is so callous and as I read, she just got under my skin (the sign of a good character). I couldn’t stand how she treated Sara, and really anyone who stood in the way of her pleasure principle (Freud would have a field day with her on his couch). Yet, I\u00a0did feel some sympathy for her that she couldn’t open up herself to love. And frustrated that Sara couldn’t find the love she wanted and deserved.<\/p>\n

Reviewed June 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a05 Quick Questions for Fiona Zedde about Broken in Soft Places<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

Polyamory is such a taboo subject in the black community. And you’ve written Broken In Soft Places<\/em>, such an invasive book about it. What was your motivation?<\/strong> <\/span>Is it a taboo subject? I didn\u2019t realize that. I know it\u2019s not overtly accepted in most mainstream spaces but I think many people live it. There are women who know about and accept their wife or husband\u2019s other lover. Couples that regularly have threesomes or identify as swingers. Groups of friends with benefits. My motivation for writing Broken In Soft Places as I did came from needing to talk about one of the elephants in the room; something we all know about but seldom explore in fiction. These polyamorous relationships exist but discussing the truth around what happens with the people involved is what can be considered taboo.<\/p>\n

What do you say to readers who are surprised by the three-way relations in your novel?<\/strong><\/span> That\u2019s a good question. I\u2019ve already had readers express a certain amount of shock by the plot and characters of the novel. My response is that I wanted to write something different, true and challenging. I don\u2019t exactly think of it as controversial, but it could be thought-provoking. I\u2019ll always write lesbian characters (like Sara) but their sexual relationships may not always be monogamous or even easily defined by the constructs of accepted social behavior. And their stories, just like in real life, may not end as expected.<\/p>\n

Sara is a fractured soul and Rille is a free spirit if I’ve ever seen one. What did it take to write both characters who seem polar opposites?<\/strong><\/span> I started off writing about Sara and all the pain she was suffering. And it was through her \u201cbroken\u201d spirit that Rille\u2019s character was born. I wondered what type of woman would Sara be attracted to and why? When the answer came to me, it wasn\u2019t about how this woman would look and identify, but about her attitude in the world. This attitude is what Sara wants to embrace for herself. She desires freedom. She wishes she didn\u2019t care what the world thinks. She wants to be stronger. Rille is the embodiment of all these yearnings.<\/p>\n

Have you ever been in a poly relationship?<\/strong> <\/span>No, I haven\u2019t. I\u2019ve been approached about being in one; it isn\u2019t for me.<\/p>\n

If you could have a threesome with any celebrities, whom would they be?<\/strong><\/span> Michelle Rodriguez and Eve, but Michelle would have to be tied up. I\u2019ve heard she gets violent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Publisher\/Date:\u00a0 Bold Stroke Books, May 2013 Genre:\u00a0 Bisexual, Romance, Drama Pages:\u00a0 264 Website:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.fionazedde.com Leave it to Fiona Zedde to come up with a tantalizing theme for her latest book \u2013 polyamory \u2013 a subject that black folks\u00a0might do, but don’t talk candidly about. Being a part of a couple that openly allows the other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"NEW REVIEW: Broken In Soft Places by Fiona Zedde http:\/\/wp.me\/p3r7qG-1aH @fionazdee"},"categories":[4],"tags":[43,44,92,169,206,371,372,401,421],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7231,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507\/revisions\/7231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sistahsontheshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}