My Daughter's Boyfriend (35 page)

Reading Group Guide

My Daughter’s Boyfriend

By Cydney Rax

About the Book

My Daughter’s Boyfriend
is the story of an impossibly tricky and provocative love triangle. Tracey Davenport was only seventeen when she had her daughter, Lauren, and proudly raised her alone. Now that Lauren is that age herself, Tracey is pleased to see her daughter heeding her advice: Lauren has decided to wait before having sex with Aaron, an older man and her first real boyfriend. But this decision has consequences neither woman could imagine, when in a few chance encounters, sparks fly between Aaron and Tracey. Coming off yet another disappointing relationship, Tracey finds Aaron’s understanding and maturity to be well beyond his years, while Aaron is drawn to Tracey’s womanliness. Eventually, what begins as a harmless flirtation turns into a hot—but secret—love affair. And that’s when things really get complicated.

Told in the alternating voices of the three lovers,
My Daughter’s
Boyfriend
is filled with sharp, lively observations on mothers and daughters, black men and women, and the truth about love and lust.

Questions for Discussion

The questions that follow are designed to enhance your reading of this audacious and compelling novel.

Is Tracey someone you could see yourself being friends with? What are her redeeming qualities? Her negative ones?

Until Aaron came along, Tracey was doing a good job raising Lauren. Why was she willing to risk her relationship with her daughter? Can you understand how she thought things might work out okay for everyone?

There are several mother-daughter relationships in the book: Tracey and Lauren, Tracey and her own mother, Indira and Regis. Which strikes you as the healthiest? Which is most like your relationship with your mother? Your daughter?

Who is the most likeable character in the novel? The least?

In her relationships with men, Tracey seems to expect to be treated a certain way. Are these expectations realistic? How might they be contributing to her romantic frustrations?

Compare Tracey’s relationship with Aaron to Lauren’s relationship with him. How are they alike? How are they different? What does Aaron get from each woman that he can’t get from the other?

Discuss Aaron’s role in the affair. Is he the instigator? Once he starts seeing Tracey, is his behavior toward Lauren honorable, or are there things he should have done differently?

And what is Lauren’s role? Is the lesson here that she should have slept with Aaron? Why, or why not? At times she seems willfully naive about her mother and her boyfriend—is she intentionally ignoring signals, or is the truth simply too difficult to imagine?

Tracey tells Indira about the affair on page 150. Imagine you were Indira: How would you have reacted to such a confession from a close friend? Should Indira have done something more about it?

There are times when it appears Tracey wants to get caught—inviting Aaron over after Lauren goes to bed, for example. Why would she do this?

On page 215 Tracey raises the idea of karma—that they might be punished for their affair in some other area of their lives. Is Aaron’s father’s illness an example of this? How does Tracey’s karma manifest itself? Does karma figure into your own life?

Discuss the role of the church in the story. What does each character’s churchgoing habits say about them? How might each have behaved differently if religion was more, or less, important to them?

During the flood, on page 265, Tracey has an epiphany about her failings as a mother. What is the result of this awakening? Is her rescue a result, in some karmic way?

Throughout the book, characters tell Tracey that she worries too much about what other people think. Is this true? Are there times when she doesn’t worry enough?

Discuss Tracey’s relationship with Derrick. What does Tracey want from Derrick, and vice versa? On page 289 Tracey says Derrick is a female version of herself—how is this an accurate assessment, and how is it wrong?

A saying Tracey sees at church has quite an effect on her: Thinking beyond where you are will bring you out from where you are. What does this mean, and how does Tracey implement it? Are there similar mottos that help you in your own life?

Assess Tracey and Lauren’s relationship at the beginning of the novel versus at the end. How is it better? Worse? Are there results you expected that didn’t come to pass?

What do you imagine would happen if Tracey had allowed Aaron to come home with her on the last page?

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful for the following:

Thanks to the Lord for giving me the writing ability, for sticking with me through life’s most trying moments, and for letting me find out what it feels like to be an author.

Thanks to my friends who encouraged me and believed in my writing (you know who you are).

Thanks to my mom, my sister Adrienne, Darryl, Brandon, Carl, Lula Phillips and family, grandmother, great-aunts, aunts, cousins, uncles, niece, nephews, and the whole gang of family around the USA.

Thanks to my agent, Claudia Menza, for representing the novel, and to my editor, Rachel Kahan; your input made the novel much better. I hope we can do this again.

Thanks to all the wonderful people, including the FP&C folks, who would ask about the status of the book (especially Deedie Gentry Phillips, Lori Lawrence, William Wade, Kim Barras, and Dilip Anketell). Your faith and interest motivated me. And I can’t forget Candy Wirt of UH-CL.

Thanks to the various ladies who gave input after reading my online excerpt and encouraged me to go for it: Delores Thornton, Nancey Flowers, KaTrina Love, Pam Williams (Kendari), Missy, Simone Hawks, Shaye Luv, Nick Lancaster, Danielle Dixon, Dawn Reeves (Tamardi), Linda Dominique Grosvenor, Jeanette Wallington, Michelle McGriff, Gayle Sloan, Jacqueline Battle, and many others.

Thanks to the many, many authors who answered my questions and provided encouragement either online, in person, or at various literary conferences, especially Margaret Johnson-Hodge (Cuz, whassup? You keep a smile on my face), Marissa Monteilh (my play sister and kindred spirit; thanks for everything), Timmothy B. McCann, William Fredrick Cooper, Brandon Massey, C. Kelly Robinson, Trisha R. Thomas (thanks for the suggestion to send the manuscript to Rachel), Vanessa Davis Griggs, Kim Roby, the always encouraging Victoria Christopher Murray, Zane, Evelyn Coleman, Venise Berry, Lois Lane, Alex Hairston, Nane Quartay, Tanya Marie Lewis (prayer warrior), Renee Swindle, Franklin White, Lori Bryant-Woolridge, my “twin” Cheryl Robinson, Mary B. Morrison, Nelson George, JD Mason, Rosalyn McMillan, Michael Baisden, Curtis Bunn, J. J. Murray, Wanda Moorman, Evelyn Palfrey, Elyse Singleton, Eric Pete, Andrea Smith, Gayle Sloan, Shá Givens, Preston Allen, Pam Jarmon, Marcus Major, and Freddie Lee Johnson.

Thanks to Carl Weber for the surprising and unselfish gesture that helped me immensely.

Thanks to Marie Hoke, AIA, for the Spanish translation.

Big shout-outs to Sheila Lindsay (future author), Lisa R. HammAck of Baltimore, and my birthday twin Marla Jennings (another writer)!

Thanks to the people who agreed to read parts of the manuscript while it was in its early form: Chris Brand, Tee C. Royal, Bill McKinney, Glendon Cameron, author Marissa Monteilh, Deedie Gentry Phillips, Cynthia Holsome, William Dailey of St. Louis, author Trisha R. Thomas, author Thomas Green, and my hilarious pal Verde.

Special thanks to one wonderful, strong, and supportive lady, Ms. Christina Pattyn, who has been with me since the beginning, through thick and thin, to listen to my joys and sorrows, and who gives loyal support and positive reinforcement no matter what.

Also shout-outs to my supercool online buddies: Margaret Johnson-Hodge (thanks for your counsel), Marissa Monteilh (you are the best in the world), Cheryl Robinson (thanks for the friendship), Djuanna “BKDiva” (thanks for the laughs), the generous and thoughtful Trina “Miss Love,” Simone Hawks, Dera Williams, Ms. aNN (Loretta) Brown, Verde (thanks for your expertise), the incomparable Brian K. Walley (Eat Wheaties! LOL!), and Chris Brand of Detroit.

Special, special thanks to another online friend and colleague, Tee C. Royal, a hard worker who is giving, sweet, funny, and helpful. You’ve done so much I can’t name it all. Tee is also the greatest author advocate that I know. Believe that!

Shout-outs to RAWSISTAZ, The Nubian Chronicles, The Sistah Circle Book Club, Shades of Romance, Black Writers Alliance, TimBookTu, The GRITS, Alvin C. Romer of The RomerReview, and the other online organizations that have supported me.

Thanks also to Donnie E. Howard, my crazy but cool “play-brother,” who in 1998 refueled my interest in books written by African-American authors. Thanks for the friendship and the laughs, D.

Thanks to Mike Silvers because I said I would.

And thanks to Howard of Delta Steel, who’d ask “when’s the book coming out” before I ever wrote one word (and I don’t even know what Howard looks like).

Thanks to Dale Cornelius of
Pages
magazine for the outstanding advertisement.

Thanks to the Crown Publishing Group people: Jason Gordon, Cindy Berman, and David Wade Smith for doing your part regarding the novel. Huge thanks to cover artist David Tran and designer Karen Minster for doing a fabulous job on the book. You’ve both made me very happy.

And huge thanks to Conrad Murphy of UH, who went out of his way to help me find my “lost” copyedited manuscript when no one knew where it was.

I cannot end this without saying thank you to the wonderful supporters of the
Book-Remarks.com
website. This appreciation includes the authors, site visitors, publicists (especially Julia Bannon of Harper-Collins), and anyone else who has cooperated to make the site successful.

Thanks to everyone who did anything to help me with this project. I hope you enjoy the novel.

Cydney Rax
August 19, 2003

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cydney Rax
earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Michigan University in Written Communications/Public Relations. Her professional experience consists of composing inspirational articles and interviewing singers that include CeCe Winans and Fred Hammond, and authors such as E. Lynn Harris and Carl Weber.

Cydney is also the creator and manager of
www.Book-Remarks.com
, a top-viewed website that promotes books written by and about African Americans.

A native of Detroit, she currently resides in Texas.
My Daughter’s Boyfriend
is her first novel. Visit Cydney online at
www.booksbycydney.com
.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2004 by Cydney Rax

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Three Rivers Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com

THREE RIVERS PRESS and the Tugboat design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rax, Cydney.
My daughter’s boyfriend / Cydney Rax.—1st ed.
1. Triangles (Interpersonal relations)—Fiction. 2. Mothers and
daughters—Fiction. 3. Single mothers—Fiction. 4. Teenage girls—
Fiction. 5. Young men—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3618.A98M9 2004
813’.54—dc22 2003015682

www.randomhouse.com

eISBN: 978-0-307-42132-6

v3.0