Bestselling author Benilde Little returns with WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS?, a richly evocative multigenerational story about the sacrifices three women have made for love. In her wise signature style. Little explores the nature of the relationship between mothers and daughters—filled with love, but fraught with regret and resentment. Just as in her first three novels. Good Hair, The Itch, and Acting Out, Little creates unforgettable characters, makes important observations about class-consciousness and cultural tensions across color lines, and weaves a tale about the commonalities across generations of women—women who are willing to take risks to "have it all" in both life and love.

Twenty-six year old Aisha Branch believes she should have the best of everything—an only child, she has been indulged by her mother, Camille, and her grandmother, Geneva—and, poised to marry her fiance. Will, she is about to fulfill her dream. Her excitement over her upcoming wedding is dampened by her family's concerns about the match—Will is not only white, but also happens to be from one of the wealthiest and most prestigious families in New York City. Still, Aisha loves Will in spite of their differences, and in spite of what Camille and Geneva may think. But on the eve of their marriage, at an engagement party thrown by Will's family, Aisha meets Miles, an elusive older man, and immediately falls for him. Never mind that Miles, a friend of Will's parents, is old enough to be her father. He's a successful, well-educated black man—and Aisha can't stop thinking about him. Having to choose between a life of comfort with Will, who provides her with the security she thought was most important, and passion and a deep connection with Miles, Aisha faces the hardest decision of her life.

Aisha's dilemma stirs up old memories and feelings in Camille and Geneva, who reflect separately on their own lives and relationships, imagining what they would now change if they could. Against the backdrop of Aisha's drama, the parallels between the three women's lives unfold in an expansive multi-layered narrative. In alternating first-person passages, the three women reveal a common strength and abiding integrity in spite of their regrets. Camille, who became a single mother at 19, has been at odds with her mother for her whole life, and at age 45, doesn't know how to make herself happy. Geneva, who disapproves of Camille's decisions but dotes on Aisha, remembers that she too defied her parents' wishes by falling in love with a jazz musician. When Geneva loses her oldest and dearest friend, and Camille finds out some startling news about Aisha's birth father, all three women are forced to consider breaking down the barriers between them for the first time.

WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS? delves into the world of these strong, extraordinary women and creates a seamless, touching account of the nature of mother-daughter relationships that will speak to women of all ages and circumstances.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Benilde Little is the author of Acting Out, The Itch, and Good Hair, which was selected as one of the ten best books of 1996 by The Los Angeles Times. Formerly a senior editor at Essence, and contributing editor at Heart and Soul, she also was a reporter for People, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, and wrote for InStyle, Allure, and others. Now a fulltime novelist. Little lives in New Jersey with her husband, daughter, and son.

Who Does She Think She Is?
By Benilde Little
Price: $21.95
ISBN: 0-684-85482-1