Forsythia Harcourt, despite her Caribbean heritage, is so obsessed with the English royals that she's named her daughters (ranging in age from 17 to 35) after queens and princesses. Victoria and Elizabeth are as regal and respectable as their namesakes, while the calculating Diana and promiscuous Charlotte do not behave in a manner befitting majesty.
Susan Fales-Hill's Imperfect Bliss centers on the divorced Elizabeth (nicknamed Bliss) as she tries to rebuild her life after being left by a cheating husband. Financial straits force her to move back with her four-year-old daughter to Maryland with her indifferent father and delusional mother--who's still trying to get her daughters to marry up. When ambitious Diana is chosen as America's most desirable virgin for a reality show, the entire family is sucked into a madcap adventure that has their home crawling with pompous producers, egotistical directors and an irresistible host who seems to have the hots for Bliss. (Meanwhile, the dignified Victoria is harboring a secret that won't stay hidden for long under the constant glare of the cameras.) This story parallels Pride and Prejudice, but it has a completely modern feel.
Fales-Hill address issues of race only once or twice, but when she does, they are fascinatingly compelling. Elaborating more about what it's like to look "white," as Bliss does, but actually identify as African American, would have been a welcome addition to this unusual tale. --Natalie Papailiou, author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend