Part memoir and part travelogue, Tharps has penned an awesome book about when cultures collide in the US and abroad. She opens up about her experiences growing up as the nearly lone Black girl in her very White private school and her traveling adventures mainly in Morocco as Junior in high school and Spain as a Junior at Smith College. Once foreign language studies enters her life, and after choosing Spanish, she spends the majority of her formative years believing Spain will bring her the racial and emotional freedom she craves. From her first encounter with Spain, this looks like it may be a dream unfulfilled, but, in the end, we discover it was just a dream deferred. This book has elements of love, cultural politics, travel to exotic locales, and even a little sleuthing. I highly recommend Kinky Gazpacho.

I am so loving Tharps as a writer at this moment and cannot wait to read Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America which she co-authored with Ayanna D. Bird. I don't totally expect the writing to be the same as I'm sure this work is more informative and historical in nature. Her writing is just so clean and unpretentious. I really hope for and look forward to future Lori L. Tharps works.

Eva Medina has known only being on the unwelcome end of random sexual assaults throughout her life. She's never been privy to any real sense of love or even a healthy man-woman relationship. Now, she sits in prison reflecting on her life and the heinous crime that landed her there. A crime that seems to represent vindication for all that had been done wrong to her.

The often sparse and simple language in this novel was so disturbing. Jones's narrative pulls the reader into the insanity of Eva. Her stream of conscious alternates among the various memories of the little boy, her mom's lover, a cousin, a much older husband, and finally, Davis. All of whom contributed to her demise into a loveless and near muted existence.

This is a solid read that examines well the sexual politics between Black men and women. But, note that the language is not for the prudish or the young.