“Leap years are strange. And because February 29 exists only every four years, it is a rare, charged day. In the old days, back home, folks whispered that it was an enchanted time. When the veil between this world and the other was gossamer thin.”
Ricki Wilde was born into a wealthy Black family in Atlanta, with her father being the famed owner of a nationwide chain of funeral homes. And while her future is laid out for her–following in the footsteps of her three older sisters and taking over her own franchise, not to mention tapping into a trust fund–Ricki isn’t interested in this path. Instead, her creative, impulsive, and rebellious nature causes significant friction between her and her family.
When she announces her dream of opening a flower shop, her ambitions are ridiculed by her family. So she quits her receptionist job at one of the family funeral parlors and decides to make her own way. But a chance encounter with a nonagenarian widow, Ms. Della, opens up an unexpected opportunity.
Ricki takes Ms. Della’s offer to move into the ground-floor apartment of her Harlem brownstone, and opens her floral boutique, Wilde Things, in the storefront portion of the space. Ricki is mesmerized by Harlem, and is fascinated by the history that existed in that neighborhood, particularly during the Harlem Renaissance.
Owning her own shop Is exhausting work, but for the first time in her life, Ricki is following her dreams without her family’s criticism. And in Ms. Della, she finds a surrogate grandmother, who recognizes Ricki’s need for love and encouragement.
One February night, she is drawn by the scent of night-blooming jasmine in a nearby community garden. She knows it is not the season for jasmine to bloom, but she cannot resist. And then she encounters a handsome, mysterious stranger who upends her world.
I’m going to leave the plot description fairly vague, although once you start reading, everything becomes clear fairly quickly. Suffice it to say that Williams imbues her upcoming book not only with steamy romance, but also lots of history of the Harlem Renaissance, and some magical realism.
This wasn’t my favorite Williams book–that honor still goes to Seven Days in June–but I’m always captivated by her storytelling. I felt like the pacing dragged a bit here, but I enjoyed all of the characters except for Ricki’s family, who were fairly one-dimensional. (But Ms. Della was absolutely fascinating.)
Many thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this advance copy. The book will publish February 6, 2024.
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