Craft does a marvelous job opening this ambitious novel in proper “multicultural” context (even though Carroll City is fictitious) giving us a bird-seye view of rich culture, smells, tastes, interiors, all meshed in a darlingly spiced martini-mix of Creole du Jour. Even more interesting is the descriptive pictures she gives of Maggie French. This following passage – the opening of the book – is as good as it gets:

Maggie French was beautiful in the eyes of most beholders, especially in men’s eyes. Even cheap mirrors reflected it. At times, Maggie felt empowered by her beauty, but at other times it failed her. Her hair was thick and silken, light ash brown, with long,thinned bangs and blunt cut-cut to shoulder length. Her alabaster skin had a hint of cream. Her eyes changed from pale violet to deep purple, framed by thick, dark, long lashes. She had an arrogantly perfect nose and lusciously full lips in an oval face. Face carried her sensuous five-foot-seven-inch body like the model she once had been.