"Absorbing read"

In 1953 Lafayette, Louisiana, Sylvia tries to flee from what she did. The incident haunts her for the rest of her life as she suffers nightmares vividly displaying this calamity.

Still life goes on. Over the next two decades Sylvia insures her own daughter follows a path to success by keeping a rein on Olivia. However, in 1975 New Orleans someone killed Liza "bad girl" Monroe, which shook up Sylvia more than it should have. She reacts by tightening her control of her daughter until Olivia has had enough and revolts.

Two decades later, Olivia's daughter Rachelle attends college. However, unbeknownst to the coed, her mother, or her grandmother someone waits. That individual has killed before and will murder anyone who might reveal secrets. Age is no factor to this predator willing to send Sylvia, Olivia, but especially Rachelle to the morgue.

This exciting story line freshens up what could have been the trite watcher-killer theme by furbishing characters that seem so genuine so that when something happens, fans empathize with the women as the episode feels real too. The three females make the tale as the audience compares each with one another while also what lurks in the shadows. Kayla Perrin paints a terse psychological suspense thriller that hooks the audience from the moment Sylvia tries to run away from herself until the final confrontation.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 18, 2004

Summary

From Essence bestselling author Kayla Perrin comes the compelling story of three generations of African-American women---of their deepest secrets and most cherished lies. The Grayson family is a pillar of the African-American community in New Orleans. But Sylvia Grayson, the matriarch, has deep secrets that she conceals beneath a veneer of propriety. She keeps a tight rein on her daughter, Olivia, and has the perfect life mapped out for her: go to college, join the Delta sorority, and marry the proper boy. After the town's "bad girl" is found murdered one summer day in 1975, Sylvia pulls Olivia even closer. But when Olivia's one last attempt at rebellion is subverted by her mother, Sylvia's relentlessly tight hold shatters the ties between them. Years later, Olivia's own daughter, Rachelle, is trying to make her way in the world. Olivia does not want to make the same mistakes as her mother, nor does she want her daughter to repeat the errors Olivia made out of rebellion. Meanwhile, a killer is watching from the shadows, determined to bring the secrets of the past to light. The Delta Sisters is a gripping, intimate portrait of what happens when these passionate women have to band together at last in the face of danger.