 April - June 2003
Chocolate Sangria
by Tracy Price-Thompson
With Black Coffee still on my palate hungering for yet another flavor to color my literary tastes, Chocolate Sangria has been dropped on the table. Tracy Price-Thompson makes the so-called sophomore jinx more an oxymoron than anything else with her latest offering. Gosh, I haven't stopped raving about Black Coffee yet, but this new sampling is a force to be reckoned with! I read it in two days, passed it on, and have rapidly become spoiled after only two gems from this talent author's pen. This is an excellent read, with the author not afraid to tackle sensitive issues on race and sex. Chocolate Sangria opens with a prologue that whets the appetite for a much bigger dose of what's in store for those who want more!
It will demand attention from the beginning as she writes in a style that is quickly becoming her trademark: straightforward writing with metaphors flying, command of street vernacular lacking complications or subtleties, and vivid characters. Using Brooklyn as a battered but appropriate backdrop, it examines sensitive issues between two maligned ethnic groups where two lovers, and a set of friends get caught in an intangling culture and social divide forcing them to come to grips with understanding each other. When shared intimacies are allowed to spill over across racial margins, trials and tribulation are par for the course. This is what Juanita, Conan, Jorge, and Scooter faced.
Our main character, Juanita Lucas suffers from low self-esteem with a burning desire for answers that haven't been part of her knowing who she really is. The product of a white mother and a black father of Haitian decent, she knew she was different, but didn't have answers. To others she seems to be everything but black. This sets the stage to prove doubters wrong, while continuously proving to belong. Conan is the man who dared to love her. He, a hardworking conscientious brother has problems trying to deal with the untimely death of his twin brother. Jorge, the character everyone will hate, is a conniving thug who opportunistically finds ways to manipulate, until fate threatens to catch up. Scooter is sweetness beyond comparison as the author gives good analogies for us not to forget his part in this drama. Gay and confused, Scooter's sexual exploits with his boss in after-hour trysts give reason for sustained frustration over his sexuality. Hattie is the matronly hard-edged mother figure that raised Juanita, but has insecurities of her own.
I felt that the book could've said what it was supposed to say in a much shorter venue, but it supplied the needed fireworks to illustrate exactly what the author wanted to convey. A little too much emphasis was spent at times on the emotional ramification of her characters instabilities, but it didn't take away from the sheer excitement of the story. The cadence of it reads like a rapid, free-flowing piece easing toward a surprising climax. I feel that this is a story where sexuality, self-identity, the bonding of friendships, and the introspective importance of understanding racial intermingling is tantamount for unpredictable endings that are necessary to come of age. The main and sub characters of this book is an excellent way of showcasing divergent, if not similar lifestyles where black and Hispanic love can coexist. This book, and Tracy's knack for interjecting the 'hood prominently into the mix for good social references will ultimately set her apart from her contemporaries. There's something about those New York writers that keep putting something in the literary mix that says they're here to stay, Tracy Price-Thompson not withstanding!
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