Brown Sugar

With a wink or a nod or a shake of their hips, they acted out fantastic stories filled with whispers and secrets. They played with myths, created legends, and entertained audiences around the world. From the turn of the twentieth century to its last few decades, a striking lineup of breathtaking black women have dazzled us with their energy, talent, and style. Lavishly illustrated, "Brown Sugar" is filled with the stories of America's black female superstars: Ma Rainey, the Mother of the Blues, fought hard, drank hard, lived hard, and set high standards for all the blues women to follow. Ethel Waters developed from her role as a slinky, sultry blues-singing flapper to an acclaimed and admired dramatic actress. Josephine Baker began her career on the stage of the Folies Bergere wearing nothing but a bunch of bananas and a smile. She continued to dazzle her audiences for decades. Lena Horne, who claimed her white nightclub audiences "saw nothing but her flesh and its color onstage," went to Hollywood and was named the cafe-au-lait Hedy Lamarr. The Supremes, swept away by success and beset by tragedy, sold more than fifty million albums and put Detroit and the Motown sound on the map. Donna Summer started as a sexy joke but emerged as the undisputed Queen of Disco.