When Butterflies Kiss - fiction reviews - Review

Black Issues Book Review, Nov-Dec, 2001 by Janine Yvette Gardner

When Butterflies Kiss by Sekou, Kiini Ubura Salaam, Elizabeth Clara Brown, T'kalla, Natasha Tarpley, Korby Marks, Shange, Kim Green, Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie, Leticia Benson Silver Lion Press, October 2001, ISBN 0-967-72861-4

The journey of a man called Dante is told through this tapestry of words woven together by the imagination and creativity of ten different writers. Each chapter is written by one author and is reflective of the individual's insight into the complications of love and lust. The authors metaphorically inter twine the two, love and lust, to create romantic, haunting and erotic situations between the main character and the women that come in and out of his life. Dante is a brotha suffering from the traumatic effects of a mid-twenties life crisis.

He believes he has thrown away his chance at true love by playing the field and running away from commitment. Readers are first introduced to Dante as a "savior," when he helps an eccentric woman named Treasure escape a persistent man trying to force her to share a few minutes of her time. It is Dante's encounter with Treasure that triggers a recurring nightmare of vicious dogs attacking him. During his conscious state, Dante struggles to overcome the hurt inside of himself that stems from his need to define his identity. Through his sexual relationships with women and his frustrations with not being the writer he aspires to be, Dante discovers how to conquer his biggest fear--the fear of being himself.

With poetic language that glides off the page in the same manner satin sheets slide off human skin, this novel is a rare find within the genre of erotic fiction.

Janine Yvette Gardner the Round-Ups editor for BIBR.