Contemporary Fiction
178 pages
Rating: 1/2 out of 5
Though silk is one of the world’s most luxurious fabrics, you wouldn’t
know it by these SILK SHEETS, James D. Jackson’s story about a
woman's sexual awakening. While Sheets isn’t a total disaster, the
story didn’t keep me warm.
The tale involves three points of view: Tanya, the naïve protagonist
who discovers her sexuality later in life; Charlene, the woman with a
little more lesbian experience under her belt; and William, the man
who surprises them all in the end.
something of herself and escape from the derelict neighborhood in which she grew up. Her father, a
lousy provider, shifted all the financial responsibilities to her mother, and left her without a strong male
role model. But her dreams will not be deferred, and she strives to create her own public speaking
company.
Tanya’s neighbor is Charlene, a sexually-charged young lady who gets kicked out her house after her
father finds her with woman’s head between her legs. Soon after she heads to Clark-Atlanta
University, where she begins having an affair with her biology professor. It’s when that relationship
takes a wrong turn that Charlene runs into Tanya, now a student at Howard University. They share a
sultry night after, one that leads Tanya in questioning whom she is. She gets over her fear, and the
two move in together after graduation.
William comes into play awkwardly as a blast from Charlene’s scandalous past, now about to get
married to Tanya’s best friend, Donna. His character doesn’t provide much else.
Jackson creates a couple love scenes that will ruffle your Sheets, but as a whole, the story just didn’t
do it for me. He doesn’t effectively capture the essence of a black lesbian, and it shows as the novel
progresses; when Tanya seeks advice from Donna’s mother, a sociologist, she has some outlandish
thoughts about homosexuality that don’t make much sense. The plot was also jumbled and clunky,
and the characters came out of place, with no transition as to who is speaking.
Silk Sheets may be a quick read, but it’s one that leaves me cold.
Reviewed March-April 2006
