Reviewed by: Alvin C. Romer, MyShelf.com
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Someone wanted her dead. Intent was good, but the results were quite different.... the canvas for the text and temperament for attempted murder is picture-perfect here. When a highly successful and stunning white woman is violently assaulted and her husband, a black athlete turned actor, is the prime suspect, one readily thinks of a specific high- profile case juiced in the news recently. Whether inspiration was prevalent for this book to come to fruition, only the author, Kate Manning knows for sure. "White Girl" is a poignant story of Charlotte Halsey, who for all practical purposes considered herself normal and oblivious to race and color...but after meeting and falling in love with Milo Robicheaux, all that changed. Color became more apparent, if not reasonable fodder for conjecture, in her attempt to find answers to the vicious assault that nearly took her life. The thing is, the would-be killer didn't finish the job...and Charlotte doesn't remember a thing!

Debut novels are not supposed to be as riveting, compelling, and so full of drama that we forget to anticipate flaws in writing style, plot pacing, and character development. We tend to expect these things to be evident, but we get none of this in this author's auspicious offering. In fact, the tone and tenor tantilize and tease as the author takes us on a journey to find the real culprit. Narrated in the first person, the book delves into issues and circumstances inherent in an interracial relationship where the opportunity to draw parallels are inevitable, if not predictable. Through Charlotte, she is able to give analytical perspective(s) to racial identity and complexities, real or imagined, in marrying a black man in a society that may not be ready to accept it. The book flows with continuity throughout as it explores meaning to the why and what of the attack, thus the hue and cry of the questions that are asked will give this novel a lot if it's flavor...and color! Who was the culprit? Was it really Milo, green with envy and jealous of her friendship with his best friend? Was it Jack, a temperamental ladies man with streaks of violence, who on occasion left her black and blue? What about her agent, a man prone to hints of yellow cowardice in his innuendos as to who may be responsible? Or, could it be anyone from the rage of society who didn't like this liaison to begin with?

Charlotte herself admits to the confusion and doubts of why it would happen in the first place. To wit: "I am under a blanket of suspicion. I have my own suspicion of Darryl. I DO suspect Milo. What's more, I suspect Jack. I suspect God, too. Who else could have thought this mess up? Who else but someone twisted enough to send his own child to earth to get nails hammered through his body, and stuck up alive on a cross like some kind of human note on a bulletin board?" This is an excellent read! Kate Manning gives us her bent on a highly congestic topic, which shows her sensitivity and penchant for weaving a great storyline against a compatible plot. I, for one, will be waiting for the next book that this author has in store for us.