by Pearl Cleage
started 3/26/08 finished 4/2/08

I have a problem reading Pearl Cleage’s books. The last few have taken place in the West End neighborhood of Atlanta. Most of the businesses and places mentioned are real. I live in West End and know all of these places. The problem is that the books are so well written and entertaining, that I think they are non-fiction!! Seen It All and Done the Rest is my favorite Pearl Cleage book so far. The issues that she tackles are so timely and current that it felt like a comfortable conversation. If you have read her other fiction, you will recognize the characters: Blue Hamilton (our West End saviour), Peachy, Abbie, Aretha, Zora.
This book is the story of Zora’s grandmother, Josephine, an ex-pat actress who left the states decades ago to conquer the stage in Europe. However, the anti-American sentiment because of the Iraq war are starting to permeate even the arts community and Josephine decides that she will take a break and visit her granddaughter in Atlanta while her future as an actress is being sorted out. Zora’s life is reeling in the aftermath of one of the city’s biggest scandals (explored in Cleage’s Baby Brother’s Blues) and Josephine wants to find a way to help her. Meanwhile, Josephine’s inherited duplex has fallen into disrepair after neglect by the management company charged with overseeing it.
Josephine and Zora reconnect over the renovation of the duplex and fighting against the powers who want to demolish it with the help of old & new friends, an Internet reality show, and flash mobs.