Linda Hudson-Smith

BET/New Spirit

1-58314-295-9

August 2002

(4) Alicia Thomas

Inspirational Fiction

PLOT SYNOPSIS: 

An acclaimed romance author makes her fiction debut with an emotional story about four savvy women who meet at a correctional facility in the California desert. The "Ladies in Waiting" aren't sitting around praying for a miracle that will bring their incarcerated men back to them--they're taking steps that include the power of prayer to make some changes in their lives.

REVIEW: 

When you consider how a close circle of friends met, the standard answers are the neighborhood, school, church, work or an organization. In Ms. Hudson-Smith’s first inspirational release, Marlene Covington, Keisha Reed, Rosalinda Morales, and Alexis DuBoise develop a friendship after meeting in line at a prison to see the men that they love. Each woman has a different and unique story that brings her to the correctional facility every weekend. The prison guards have given the women who are weekly visitors the name, LADIES IN WAITING, which is the title.

Marlene is the wife of a minister who has been imprisoned for a crime where all the circumstantial evidence leads to him. In the meantime, Marlene is asked to assume more responsibility at the church. She seeks to find out what their son knows about the crime. Keisha is a single mother who has been trying to keep it together until the children’s father is released. Rosalinda is working two jobs to support her sick mother as well as pay her lover’s legal builds. Alexis is in denial about the lifestyle and beliefs that led her husband to be imprisoned for embezzlement. The blessings of faith, love and truth await these women. It is available for each one as they face the truth about what real love is.

After reading the back cover, I was somewhat jaded about the possibility of enjoying this story. I had some preconceived notions about how the story would go. On many levels, I was wrong. Ms. Hudson-Smith does a magnificent job exposing the reader to the lives of these women. The strength and beauty of each woman grows as they are forced to stand on their own. Living alone forces their focus to turn within for the strength to face the personal demons that are lurking below the surface. The group that they form to assist women in similar situations brings everything in the story together. The confessions the reader hears are brutally honest. They become moments of enlightenment for the main characters. In this novel, the characters and the reader are forced to face their personal prejudices of the women who support these men.

Ms. Hudson-Smith has crafted a tale of self-discovery through introspection and fellowship. Each woman has to face God for herself and then share His love with those in their lives. I truly enjoyed this story. 

alicia@romanceincolor.net  (27th September 2002)