Synopsis

A successful journalist returns to her hometown just as her biggest mistake becomes headline news in this vibrant, funny, and heartfelt novel about facing the past, and its secrets, head-on.

Entertainment journalist Dawn Roberts has a lot to work through: a widow’s grief, betrayals of family and friends, and scandals that almost tanked her reputation. Not that Dawn dwells on the past. Well, hardly. When she returns to Baltimore with her husband’s ashes, she can’t avoid it. In fact, she’s diving into decades of backstabbing and treachery for her first trip home in years.

She’s looking at you, Joe Perkins. Her former mentor, whose explosive exposé about big-city corruption is being turned into a slanderous movie, is also back in town. The villain of the piece? Dawn. The good news is that this could all be a chance to reset―heal family wounds, admit to her own mistakes, and maybe even reconnect with the one who got away. Oh, and get even with Joe any way she can.

With the surprising help of an up-and-coming journalist and a legendary R & B diva, Dawn will finally set the record straight. Returning home might just be the biggest story in Dawn’s life, a fresh start―and happy ending―she never expected.

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Review

Don’t mess with a grieving widow. You might not know what hits you.

Dawn is a strong woman. While not perfect, she has morals and ethics, unlike a particular former friend who was out for himself. All would have been ok on her journey back to Baltimore to lay her husband’s ashes to rest, until that same former friend decides to trash Dawn in his upcoming movie based on his award-winning article.

Joe is a despicable character who deserves everything he gets in the end. I think he fought so hard because he knew he was wrong, and it was unlikely Dawn could prove it. Never underestimate the power of women and their friends.

I wasn’t sure what to think of this book, but I soon became immersed in the story and was rooting for Dawn. She made plenty of mistakes along the way, but when it came down to it, she had her friends and family supporting her. The family is somewhat dysfunctional, but what family isn’t these days?

Told in dual timelines, we see what Dawn did as a young cub reporter in the early 90s and how she blossomed and grew in the present. I loved how she talked to her husband, Dale, even though he had died. I love that relationship, and that she still feels close to him. I even appreciated how her relationship with her brother-in-law changed in the present. There was fault on both sides, but sometimes death brings people together when you least expect it.

This novel is about family, friends, and truth. Can we say the same about our lives?

We give this book 4 paws up.

Excerpt

Et Tu, Tonya?

2023, still on this stupid plane

“Excuse me, ma’am,” the flight attendant says. “We need your tray table up, please. We’re about to land.”

Had I been daydreaming about that dirtbag for five hours? He doesn’t deserve one second of my time, let alone . . . however many seconds make up five hours. I’m not doing math for him!

I guess I slept through any opening to talk to Joe and ask him why he’s going to Baltimore, or why he tried to ruin my life. At least I haven’t kicked the back of his chair like I was tempted to. They’d probably dump me off in Topeka and I would never give Joe the satisfaction of seeing me dragged off a plane.

“I’m so sorry,” I say to the flight attendant, hurriedly closing the tray. Joe’s presence in Baltimore can’t have anything to do with me, right? I’m gonna be here less than a week, and I’m certain that he’s not going to be hanging out at Jewish cemeteries or anywhere near my mother, who hates him and has a licensed firearm.

I look in front of me through the space between seats, and I can see the expensive sleeve of Joe’s coat on the armrest. I resist the urge tug it and concentrate on not getting tackled by air marshals. When we land, I deliberately wait to get up until I see that sleeve disappear.

I half expect him to turn around and say something snide. But he just grabs his pricey looking leather satchel and exits without a word.

“It’s OK to deplane,” the flight attendant tells me.

“But is it, though?”

She nods.

“You know who was sitting in front of you?” she asks.

“I have no earthly idea,” I say, deadpan.

“Joe Perkins from the news! He signed my book!”

“You had a copy of his book on you?”

“He had an extra and gave me one,” she says with the stupidest little look on her face. Poor kid. She has been Joe’d. Happens to the best of us.

“Well, at least he didn’t charge you,” I say, grabbing the rest of my stuff and hurrying off the plane. As I scurry, I think about that good friend and mentor who was willing to dance with me to a bad band at a dive bar, who swore to be my newspaper fairy godbrother and look out for me. Where did that guy go? And how has he been replaced with that over-moisturized picture of Dorian Black?

My suitcase should be off the baggage carousel by now so I can grab it and dash into the running car that my sister better be sitting in. Oh, good. There’s Dale’s guilt-gift suitcase, sitting on the belt. Where is Tonya? I told her we had to move quickly so I don’t get in a fight here in this nice airport named after Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court Justice. Justice Marshall was dedicated to his down- trodden brethren, but he probably wouldn’t bother with “Black woman pops thieving former friend in the eye at the luggage area.”

I reach into my pocket for my phone and realize it’s in my bag. Maybe Tonya called and I didn’t hear it? OK, here it is. Three missed calls. And some texts.

Grrrllle! the first text reads. Grill? Is that English?

Hrry up get yr bag we gotta goooo.

Huh?

I’ma leave my car running and you better be here!!

That one I understood. I look up to see my sister sprinting across several lanes of traffic, nearly colliding with the car rental shuttle bus. Has she ever moved that fast? Is she being chased?

“Tonya!” I say. “What are you doing? What’s wrong? Did somebody die?”

She shakes her head furiously. “No, but I’m going to get a ticket. Can you run in those shoes?”

“Not with the urn! It’s OK. You would never believe who was on my plane!”

Tonya’s eyes get wide and she seems to be trying not to look at me.

“Who?” she asks.

“Joe! I have no idea what he wants, or why he’s here.”

“No way!” Tonya says, and why does her voice sound like someone on “Murder She Wrote” trying to pretend they’re completely shocked about the dead body. “That’s crazy!”

I pause, and take her hand carefully in mine.

“Is it crazy, Tonya?” I ask, pulling her around to face me.

“No, not really,” a voice behind me says.

I don’t want to turn around. But I do.

“Hello, Joe.”

Q&A with Leslie

How did the idea for your debut novel, FAMILY & OTHER CALAMITIES, originate?

In the original version, Dawn and Joe had been in a 90s era rock band together. She finds out that they are getting back together for a reunion tour without her. It was suggested there were a lot of band stories at the time and that I place it somewhere else. So, then Dawn became a journalist, something I knew more about – although I was in a band in the 90s. Very long story!

Aha! Your great pop music references throughout the book make special sense now, especially regarding Dale, who manages an emerging band and steals Dawn’s heart. Is it true that you have a secret talent as a music-trivia expert? Tell us all about that.

I have all sorts of random music and pop-culture knowledge in my head in place of, like, math or science. I have found the one profession – pop culture-adjacent writing – in which this is a plus. I am in an online trivia league, where I am useless with mathematical equations, but if you want to know about R.E.M. songs, I’m your girl.

Your novel centers around a seasoned journalist who discovers that a breaking news story that was stolen from her a long time ago by a former friend is now being made into a movie, and she is the villain. Why is journalism – and journalistic theft, in particular – such an important thing to write about in this era? Have your stories been stolen in the past? If so, how did you react?

Journalism is under attack, no doubt, as the very concept of truth seems now up for debate. I have never had a story stolen, but I have known writers who have believed that their work was plagiarized or at least closely copied. It’s hard in a world where there is so much information out there floating around online, because there are only so many completely unique ideas. There are times I read something that seems so close to an idea I had and I have to think “Did this person read my stuff?” No, they didn’t. Songwriters and comics both say that they realize they unconsciously copied a line from someone else and didn’t know. Here, there’s absolutely no question that Joe took Dawn’s story, her sources…the whole shebang. The issue of plagiarism is even thornier now because the Internet is just putting work out there to be seen and maybe taken by less than honorable people. You also have the blurring of lines about what is public property. I hate the word “content” because it literally just seems like it could be anything to fill a space. It could be packing peanuts or Skittles. It’s not about art sometimes and it doesn’t mean as much to the people who are taking it. It’s a thing to take. This is bigger than journalism – social media creators are always getting their clever work reposted without attribution. Some people really don’t know the boundaries, and others just don’t care.

About the Author

Leslie Gray Streeter is an award-winning journalist and columnist for the Baltimore Banner. She is the author of the memoir Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like “Journey” in the Title, the cohost of the podcast Fine Beats and Cheeses, and a frequent speaker on grief. She is also a slow runner, an amateur vegan cook, and a fan of Law & Order. Leslie lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her son, Brooks.