Summary

Loyalties are tested and measured along racial lines in this engrossing, powerful story by one of America’s most promising writers.  Set in the center of racially troubled Los Angeles, still healing from the deep scars of riot, violence and suspicion, it is a riveting story of two women coping with friendship, love, careers, racism, affirmative action and sexual harassment; a story of a dazed society dealing with its grim realities and dashed hopes; a story honest and ambitious enough to explore Rodney King’s question, “Can we all get along?”

Author Biography

Bebe Moore Campbell is the author of Sweet Summer: Growing Up With and Without My Dad, and Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine.  A frequent contributor to National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition”, she lives in Los Angeles, where she recently received the NAACP Image Award for outstanding literary work.

Topics to Consider

This book, Brothers and Sisters, is set in the tension of post-riot    Los Angeles.  What role does racial tension¾in the bank, in L.A., in the bank program¾play in the conflicts that develop?

The women in Brothers and Sisters all seem to choose the wrong men (Esther and Mitchell, Mallory and Hayden.)  What are they looking for that leads them to these men?  What changes do they go through that allow them to escape these relationships?

In the beginning of the novel, Esther is consumed by rage.  In what ways does Esther learn to deal with her anger?  Do you find her just as angry at the end of the novel?

Friendships between the races are one of the main focuses of Brothers and Sisters.  Friendships develop between both Mallory and Esther and Humphrey and Preston. How are the relationships similar?  Different?  Can the friendships succeed?

The novel expresses concerns about the difficulties African Americans face in the business world.  How does their race affect their ability to come into positions of power?  How does it affect them once they assume a position of authority?

Preston Sinclair’s Diversity Program causes tension and problems for the people in the bank.  Do you think the program is doomed to fail?  What is inherently wrong with    the program?

The charges of sexual harassment and thieving from the dormant accounts bring up issues of race and how guilt and innocence are perceived because of their race.  How do these situations show the differences between perception and reality?  How does Humphrey appear to Esther?  Mallory?  The reader?

Loyalty ¾ racial loyalty and loyalty to friends ¾ are highly respected and important to the characters in Brothers and Sisters.  When they are pitted against each other, which does Esther choose?  What effect does her choice have on her concept of self?

Does Bebe Moore Campbell propose a solution?  If so, what is it?  Do you think it will work?

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