Kept

Sonpri Gray. Brio (www.briobooks.com), $24.95 (316p) ISBN 978-1-937061-99-9

For her shocking and sad debut, Gray draws from her own experiences as a kept woman to tell the sordid story of Savannah May Lovely, a woman who uses sex and seduction to build a life. Haunted by a troubled childhood of poverty, molestation, a cheating father, and a suicidal mother, Savannah eventually escapes to college in the Virgin Islands, where she takes advantage of the distance from her family to experiment with using her body to get men and money. Unfortunately, Savannah's efforts prove all too successful, and she is quickly swept into the life of being a kept woman. Now, 25-years-old and with a three-year-old daughter, Savannah desperately wants out of the lifestyle that's left her hollow and unsatisfied. If Gray's story had more heart, this recitation of miserable experiences with men might be of substance, but as is, her tale reads like a cathartic purging of Joe, Don, Xander, Tristan, and so on—but little more. (May)

Reviewed on: 06/18/2012

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