Africa Fine

Tina Jones has spent most of her life overweight, battling her insecurities and the bad relationships that resulted. Growing up without parents in the home of her demanding Aunt Gillian, Tina never fit her aunt’s ideal of what a young, middle-class black woman should be.

This year, Tina has lost 100 pounds, and while she still
struggles in her relationships with men, her career as a college English professor in South Florida is taking off.  Then, everything changes.

When Looking for Lily begins, Tina’s aunt has just taken a bad fall at her home back in Cleveland.  Tina soon finds out this fall isn’t the first.  Her 69-year-old aunt can no longer care for herself, so Tina has little choice but to bring Gillian to Florida to live with her.  After years of  independence, Tina is once again faced with the prospect of her aunt’s disapproval and criticism; she has never lived up to her aunt’s standards, and not much has changed. The move forces Tina to shift her focus away from her difficult love life and blooming career to
concentrate on her aunt’s increasing dependence. Tina tries to care for her aunt alone but soon realizes that Aunt Gillian is much worse off than she thought. Aunt Gillian has Alzheimer’s disease.

Tina enlists her longtime, platonic friend Jack to help her sort through her aunt’s things.  Jack is an engineering professor at the same college and has known Tina since her overweight days.  They dated briefly, but instead of lovers, they became friends.  In the midst of packing, Tina stumbles upon a birth certificate for Lily Jones, Aunt Gillian’s daughter – a daughter Tina never knew existed.  
Tina cannot resist the mysteries of her aunt and parents, and she tries to unlock her aunt’s failing memory.  She embarks on a quest to uncover her family secrets against Jack’s advice and her aunt’s warning to “live in the present because you can’t change the past.”

Tina believes this is her last chance to finally get to know her tight-lipped aunt, to find out more about her dead parents and to look for Lily.  Tina isn’t alone in her search.  Jack acts as a referee when Tina and Aunt Gillian cannot get along and is her emotional rock when Tina faces difficult decisions about her aunt’s care.  Meanwhile, Jack
and Tina are growing closer and she starts to wonder whether their friendship can become something more.  In the end, Tina must find answers not only about her family, but about her relationship with Jack as well.

Africa Fine at amazon.com