Praise for Colored Sugar
Water:
"It superbly dealt
with black spirituality from the organized church and religion to
voodoo and fortune telling..."
Booklist
"...entertaining...those who like their romance weighted with
otherworldly significance will find plenty to satisfy them here."
Publishers Weekly
"A rich and quirky flavor sets it apart from other tales
about the travails of sistah friendship."
Black Issues Book Review
"...sexy, soulful and heartwarming..."
Houston Style Magazine
"With extreme emotion, passion and a few twists and turns, Berry
offers a very thought-provoking, intriguing and moving novel..."
BlackBoard Times
Colored
Sugar Water
Colored
Sugar Water introduces Lucinda Marie Merriweather and Adel Kelly
who both take unique spiritual journeys. Lucy is thirty-five, single
and in great shape thanks to her career as a fitness manager for a
string of Texas health clubs. Adel is the vice president for human
resources at American Oil pulling in a six-figure salary and large
bonuses. Unfortunately neither is happy.
Lucy
believes in everything from fortune telling and hoodoo to God's grace
and the power of prayer. Her boyfriend, Spencer is a basic kind of
guy who loves his mama, sports, fried chicken and Lucy in that order.
When Lucy becomes less than satisfied with Spencer, she invites a
Sexy Soul Psychic named Kuba into her life. Self assured and sensitive,
Kuba seems to be exactly what Lucy wants or is he?
When
it comes to spirituality, Adel tells her best friend Lucy that she
really doesn't know what to believe. Her family didn't go to church
every Sunday, so she has never understood the need for religion. Struggling
with her husband, Thad, who refuses to grow up and a job that values
big business over humanity, Adel eventually discovers how the power
of faith can change her life.
Filled with the humor, passion and pathos of modern
relationships, Colored Sugar Water tells the story of two women who
ultimately discover the power of their unique spiritual gifts. There
is one question you will need to answer for yourself when you finish
reading this book - What do you believe and why?
Book
Club Discussion Questions
1. In the beginning of the novel the reader is told about a re-occurring
dream where Lucy is running from someone or something that she cannot
see. What is the significance of the dream, and does it foreshadow
events later in the novel? In what other ways can this dream be interpreted?
2. What is the significance of the symbol found both in Kuba’s
apartment as well as on Birch’s arm? What does the symbol represent?
3. In the novel, Lucy appears hesitant to acknowledge the importance
of Spencer and their relationship. She also seems to deny the love
she feels for him. Why is Lucy hesitant to love Spencer and what
allows her to finally acknowledge it?
4. Lucy’s relationship with Spencer is described as convenient
twice during the novel; does this hold true? Why or why not?
5. Besides his seductive voice, what pulls Lucy towards Kuba? At
what point in the novel does Lucy realize how wrong this relationship
is? Does she ever get over Kuba?
6. With the exception of Kuba, could it be argued that the male characters
in this novel seem spiritually weak in comparison to their female
counterparts? Do they change as the women do, and if so, what will
this mean for Adel and Lucy?
7. Venise Berry created two very strong female characters. Throughout
the novel are Lucy and Adel exposed to situations where they are
shown as weak? What do these situations teach the characters and
show us, the readers? What enables these two women to over come their
weaknesses?
8. According to the story what is the difference between Voodoo and
Hoodoo? When it comes to your own religion and spirituality what
do you believe and why?
9. Lucy and Adel are very different women. Which character do you
relate to? How are you similar/ different from this character? Would
you have handled certain situations differently?
10. Faith is a re-occurring theme in COLORED SUGAR WATER. How do
both women deal with their faith in the novel? During the course
of the
novel do their positions change? How so? Thad and Adel name their
daughter Faith; is this a statement for Adel alone or for the novel
as a whole? What else could the child’s name symbolize?
11. The first and last chapters of this book describe Lucy making
her iced tea. What do the ingredients in her iced tea represent?
What
is the importance of closing the novel with this image of the sugar
mixing with the water and the iced tea? Why is it called “colored
sugar water”?
