Novelist April Sinclair loves to tussle with squirmy topics like racial politics and sexual identity (Coffee Will Make You Black; Ain't Gonna Be the Same Fool Twice). In her latest offering, she indulges her passion for the issue-afflicted with Daphne Dupree, an overweight 41-year-old incest survivor. In I Left My Back Door Open Dupree just wants to find a good man to warm her up in the Windy City, but the incessant problems of her two best friends, a lesbian single parent and an Asian belly dancer who's being sexually harassed at work, prove distracting — even for the reader. Yes, the dialogue is sharp and the characters refreshing, but ultimately Sinclair undermines the story with too many soap opera subplots. B-
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