Although she isn't actively seeking a lover, she finds one in Winston, a chef trainee half her age. Winston is a vision-fleshy lips, copper skin, dulcet voice, and sleek body. He is not just another pretty face, though; he possesses a soulfulness and an innocence that deeply move Stella. Stella infuses her narrative with honest, energetic, and erotically charged language. It is refreshing to meet a character with such vigor, piquant humor, and temerity who also has enough insecurities and needs to make her human.
Ultimately, How Stella Got Her Groove Back is the stuff of romance (a slight departure from the best-selling Waiting to Exhale). It is about a woman coming of age in middle age and growing through love. The pop/disco group Dee-Lite may have summed it up best when they sang, "The groove is in the heart."
©1996, ProMotion, inc.