Like Naylor's previous works, Mama Day ( LJ 2/15/88), Linden Hills ( LJ 4/15/85), and the award-winning The Women of Brewster Place ( LJ 6/15/82), this novel offers interesting characterizations in familiar settings imbued with mythic qualities. The cafe setting allows a range of characters to tell stories from their lives, each in a unique voice. Bailey's and the nearby boarding house (which some call a bordello) offer respite for those who have been battered in the outside world, and their long-lasting scars shape the book's narrations and interactions. The characterizations, distinctly and believably drawn, are Naylor's most interesting since her first novel, The Women of Brewster Place . Recommended for all contemporary fiction collections.