Review of What You Owe Me by Bebe Moore Campbell

Los Angeles in 1948 marks a crossroads for both Hosanna Clark and Gilda Rosenstein. Both are running from violent pasts. Hosanna from the vicious mob that raped her sister and stole her family’s farm and Gilda from the death camps of Nazi Germany. Tapping their resilient inner strength, the two women manage to start a small cosmetics company catering to women of color. But their success doesn’t last long because one day Gilda simply disappears taking all of the small company’s assets with her.

Gilda’s defection plants a bitter seed of retribution inside Hosanna that lives even beyond the grave and continues to grow inside her youngest daughter, Matriece. Gilda has resurfaced many years later and heads one of the most successful cosmetics companies in the world. Now it’s time for Matriece to collect her dead mother’s due.

Bebe Moore Campbell skillfully revisits a period when black people were migrating to Los Angeles with little more than dreams. It is a story that spans fifty years and all the poignant drama of three dynamic women, their friends, children and lovers. It is tantalizing, edgy, and sexy at times; sure to keep you turning the pages to discover who comes out on top in this corporate drama.

Amazon.com: Books: What You Owe Me