Rating: 
Summary: IT SPELLS EXCELLENCE FOR BEBE CAMPBELL MOORE
Review: I've read Brothers And Sisters and Your Blues A'int Like Mine, so I definitely could not resist the urge for What You Owe Me. Based on deep love and betrayal, this work is set in Los Angeles, California. The story begins with Hosanna Clarke an African American and Gilda Rosenstein, a Holocaust survivor who are employed as maids in a downtown hotel. Their life is tough and after suffering much oppression from the boss and hotel owner who believes in cheap labour, the girls come together to set up a plan to make themselves some money of their own. Gilda is still hurting from the Holocaust and depends of Hosanna's encouragement day after day. But Gilda unravels a big secret when she lets Hosanna on to the fact that her family in Poland had a cosmetic factory and she had sneeked out with the formula. While still working at the hotel, they make plans on that score, and start buying the ingredients and using a room to manufacture the stuff, starting with the hand cream which Hosanna takes to her church and people start buying like hot cakes. Money starts to pour in and with hopes of doing much better, they quit their laborious jobs, and open a joint bank account.
But the day soon dawns when Hosanna goes to the bank to withdraw money for supplies and discovers that Gilda has flown the coup taking all of their money and have closed the bank account with no forwarding address. Horrified and hurt Hosanna cannot believed that her friend whom she had grown to love so much and whom she had taught street smarts has betrayed her after all that they shared together. After trying in vain to locate Gilda, Hosanna decides not to be trapped in despair. She continues with her own cosmetics but does not enjoy good health and eventually dies leaving two daughters. The mysterious twist in the tale comes when her younger daughter Matriece who has heard all about the betrayal from Hosanna,joins Gilda Cosmetics in a top-of-the -line job and becomes Gilda's secondhand woman. This is where the entertainment starts and believe me if you have a chicken in the oven take it out; it you have to say your prayers say them now; if you have to give the baby a bath do that too, because you're not going to be able to tear yourself away from this page turner of a book. This is where this book actually begins. Plus there are tremendous characters gracing these pages like:
Montgomery; Matriece boyfriend.
Daniel and Rachel; Gilda's children.
Vondetta; Matriece's sister.
Kent; the accountant at Gilda's.
Sam; the car wash man.
Asia Pace; the hip-hop singer.
Boot; Vondetta's Mexican husband.
Calvin Meekes; the CEO at Radiance and Gilda's competitors.
Judd and Porter; Blair's son and husband.
Tavares and Shalimar; Vondetta and Boots' children. This book just blows you away so be prepared. I loved it. A great gift for good friends. Heather Marshall (nettle-girl)
Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: Wow, when I first read this book, I noticed something different; the beginning was catching. As I read through the middle of it, it got a little boring. But after, I figured I had to read it. I'm glad I did. This book taught me the choices you have to make at certain times, like when Gilda left Hosanna. At first I thought that Gilda had no reason to leave Hosanna like that in the cold. But the I realized that sometimes you don't have a choice but to do what isn't right in order to survive. Surviving means to make it through something, with consequences to pay at times. At the same time, Gilda didn't want to look for Hosanna, afraid of what to say to her, afraid that she'd hate her, afraid of everything. This book taught me that sometimes, you have to do what you have to do, like when Hosanna left working as a janitor at the hotel. People make wrong and right choices all the time. This book proves that even though it may seem something on the outside, it's different than what's in the inside.
Rating: 
Summary: Another good idea...
Review: I think I've read all of Bebe Moore Campbell's books and I have been impressed with all of them except for this one. After the mother stopped speaking at the beginning, the book read like a manual on how to run a company. Very good idea--but the mother had so much attitude and such a good life to talk about---I wish Bebe would've brought her back into the story.
Rating:
Summary: A real page-turner
Review: Ms. Campbell has written a novel that needs to be seen on the big screen. Immediately after I finished reading this book in 2 days, I made a list of all the actors I envison playing the various roles. I also passed it on to my mother who read it in one day, who thoroughly enjoyed it from cover to cover as well. I disagree with my fellow critics who said they thought the ending was unrealistic. Who's to say what's real and not real in each other's world? I could analyze some things my friends have done and deem their actions unrealistic. Anyway, this novel is a must-read. I look forward to her next novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book
Review: Campbell did an excellent job with this book. At first, I was intimidated by the size of the book. However, once you start reading, you have difficulty putting it down. The characters are all realistic and the storyline intriging.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book of course...
Review: I enjoyed this book; however, I don't think it was BeBe Moore-Campbell's best. The challenges faced by the characters were realistic, but the ending about the business was a bit unreal.
Rating:
Summary: Not perfect, but close
Review: A multitude of characters, skillfully handled, with layered personalities. I really liked the Hosanna character; that part of the book went the fastest for me. It was only fitting that she reappear to close the book.
I didn't particularly care for the ending; I agree with the other reader who pointed out how unlikely it would be to make a deal based on blackmail. I also didn't like not finding out the outcome of the lawsuit for the family property in Texas. But a very good read nonetheless.
Rating:
Summary: Healing the Past
Review: Hosanna Clark's family was cruelly displaced from land they owned but had not rights to in the segregated south. Subsequently she and her brother Tuney head for Los Angeles with dreams of a better life and hopes of getting back the land the family was robbed of. They believed that though their LA circumstances weren't the greatest they would both be successful at some point. Hosanna worked on an all black housekeeping staff at a major hotel. This mix changes with the arrival of Gilda Rosenstein, a holocaust survivor. Hosanna befriended this battered woman and that friendship became Hosanna's biggest source of joy. As friends, Hosanna taught Gilda how to smile again, dream about future possibilities and ease some of the pain of her past. Gilda made Hosanna realize that she was beautiful just the way she was. As unlikely as their friendship was their ensuing business partnership was as unlikely as a man on the moon at that time. Together they pursue an unlikely dream, to build a cosmetics business. Just as business was ready for further expansion, Gilda disappears leaving a trail of pain, disbelief and bitterness behind her. She left out of desperation but she also understood that her race would afford her privilege that Hosanna could not obtain. Though Gilda later becomes the successful owner of a multimillion dollar cosmetics firm, she couldn't stay married, didn't know her daughter, and was haunted by her family who was lost in the death camps and her dear friend Hosanna. Hosanna had a cosmetics business as well but did not enjoy near the success that Gilda had. Her thoughts and her heart were filled with bitterness for the business, the success Gilda stole from her. She married her childhood sweetheart and gave birth to two daughters Vonette and Matriece but loved another man. Hosanna made it her business to try and instill the bitterness she had for Gilda in her daughters. When Hosanna died, Matriece, her youngest, picked up baton and made it her business to get back what Gilda stole from her mother. What she finds out however was that Gilda was not a monster but a human being with feelings and needs. When the opportunity comes for her to "go for the kill" Matriece is left with a dilemma, should she see the plan through or come clean and how can she fulfill her mother's wishes when she was no longer sure they were her own. What You Owe Me addresses racism, friendship, betrayal, dreams, family and so much more. Moore Campbell skillfully addresses these issues in each character and is able to tie it all together in a way that is easy to follow for the reader which is a feat, considering the number of characters in the book. This is by far her best work to date.
Rating:
Summary: As usual Ms. Campbell shines
Review: I always buy her books as soon as they're published. This story goes straight to the heart of so many issues, guilt, lack of forgiveness and how hard it is to love and trust. One of the best book that I've read this year.
Rating:
Summary: Oh da rhythms...
Review: Again Bebe strikes again. What a wonderful book and the story spanning mutilple generations of the central characters Hoseanna & Glinda kept you glued to the book. I particularly love the idea of redemption and closure that comes now too soon for the grandchildren of these women. Bebe's sensitivity to historical accuracy without lecturing or repelling ones who may be adverse to truth telling was well done.
I've been a big fan of her work from the beginning. And also displaying the humanity of these two cultures without banging one over the head was superb. Well done Bebe!
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