Butterscotch Blues

by Margaret Johnson-Hodge

Book Overview

Sandy finally had everything her heart desired...Sandy Hutchinson has skin so dark and chocolatey brown that her friends call her the black Diva. At the age of thirty-four, she and her three... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312264844
• ISBN13: 9780312264840
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 295 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Will Capture Your Attention and Your Heart!

Butterscotch Blues by Margaret Hodge is a multi-dimensional relational novel which details Sandi's(the main character/protagonist) life with family, friends and new beau Adrian. Butterscotch Blues was painstakingly emotional but oh so compelling, well crafted and a page turner from the onset so I was able to read this wonderfully told story in one sitting. So many thoughts ran through my head as I watched the relationship of Sandi and Adrian unfold and experienced heart-wrenching, soul stirring situations that made me wonder "could I express that type of unconditional love if I were in the same situation". I liked that Sandi's character had dimension and depth and as such we were able to see her beyond just her beau; we lived with her through sisterfriend and familial relationships. Girlfriends that we knew...and could call our friends...Brittany(the overweight sister who's the last one to usually have a man), Martha(the sisterfriend who only dates men with big pockets/wallets)and Janice(the friend who always has to have a man-any man-even a piece of man is okay). We're up close and personal with Sandi and Adrian's families as we explore issues of betrayal and skin color divisiveness in the AA community. Butterscotch Blues is a complex story filled with crafty dialogue, vivid imagery, realistic situations, well-developed characters and plot twists and turns; it's a story of hope, love and living each day to the fullest. Ms. Hodge is truly a wonderful storyteller as Butterscotch Blues is a story that you live and experience long after you've read the book. Butterscotch Blues was one of My Top 10 books for 2000 and its a book that I recommend for your reading pleasure. Pick Up Your Copy Today!

Powerful Story

Prepare yourself to encounter an avalanche of emotions that'll transport you into the very pages where this intense story takes place. It's a sensitive story that embraces the euphoria and hardships of friendship and love. Mulitple situations arise stacking on one another so high that by the conclusion of the novel, tears are stinging in your eyes, and you are devouring each page in anticipation of the next. Margaret's vivid descriptions, poignant characters, and piercing words transport you into the lives of Sandy, Britney, Janice, and Martha as they live, love, learn, loose, and grow. You'll feel every emotion that they feel. With flaming lyrics, Margaret lures you into their lives plucking your emotions until you feel that you are indeed one of the characters in the novel. Every character in this progressively realistic novel loves, learns, and experiences loss, but most amazingly, you'll feel it too.

This book moved my spirit

This book was excellent, I read it in one day because I couldn't put it down. The characters were believable and I could feel the love that the main characters had for one another. Plot development was excellent, the author really spent time knowing where these people were going. I loved the bonds of sister friendship and how the author explored the unsightly feelings of jealousy that we sometimes feel when it is a group of four friends, just trying to keep it together and work through our own petty issues and keep the friendship intact.I found myself sobbing like a baby near the end, this book was an emotional release for me. As a young widow I could relate too well to the pain of losing someone you love.Thank you for such a wonderful addition to my book collection, I will be ordering all of your books from now on.

Another Long Distance Runner Enters the Race!

I am the kind of reader who loves to become immersed in a book; to let it take my life over for a few days and carry me to another world. When I first began reading Margaret Johnson Hodge I was pleased to find a writer who wrote about the ordinary, everyday kind of black people I knew while growing up and still know today. They're not suprstars. They watch TV, they care for their families and want love and understanding like every human being I've ever come across--Black or White. And like most people I know, they are always trying to find out who they are and what they think their purpose in this life on this Earth really means.In her latest book, Butterscotch Blues, she has gone out on a limb to place those everyday characters in a very scary, yet reality-based, situation. And she does it in a way that was so real that I found myself wanting to get on the phone and call Sandy Hutchinson to give her a piece of my mind when she ran out on Adrian.Though it moved a little slow in the beginning, I found myself trying to carve out time during my busy day in order to open the book and resume the story because, once the story began to move forward, every part of my mind and body had become involved.I believe that this is Ms. Johnson Hodge's best book--one that signals readers to be on the lookout for more from this author. She's not trying to be like other writers, she has found her voice and is running with it. If writer, John Oliver Killens were alive today, he would surely put Margaret Johnson Hodge on his list of 'long distance runners,' a term he used for writers who were not just a flash in the pan but those who intended to stay in the race for the long haul. If we're lucky, Margaret Johnson Hodge is just getting her first wind and has many, many more laps to complete.

A heartbreakingly beautiful love story

Close friends Sandy, Martha, Janice, and Britney are single, black women in their mid-thirties. All of them share in common the deep need to find Mr. Right. They go to singles clubs together and celebrate the ups and downs each one feels. After meeting Trinidad immigrant Adrian Burton, Sandy is ready to toss Brian, who she has been with for several years, out of her life. For both Sandy and Adrian it is love at first sight. However, she cannot understand why his family treats her so poorly. When she leans the truth about what he has hidden from her, will she have the strength to cement their relationship or will her low self-esteem send her fleeing from her beloved? BUTTERSCOTCH BLUES showcases African-American women, but is a story that transcends race and culture because any woman could have been its star. The novel is a testament to the power of love and the strength of one's spirit to accept the hard knocks while fully enjoying life. Sandy is everyone as she represents the best of humanity even with her flaws and doubts. When the going gets tough, the unsure Sandy gets tougher due to her unselfish love that makes her a heroine that readers will cherish.Harriet KLausner