Naylor's second novel, Linden Hills, takes place in Linden Hills, a wealthy and privileged neighborhood; it is familiar because it is the place Kiswana Browne-a character from The Women of Brewster Place-left. Published by Ticknor in 1985, Linden Hills reminds some critics of Dante's Inferno. The story revolves around two young men and their observations of the effects of black aspirations in contemporary America.

Mama Day is Naylor's third novel. The setting is far removed from those in the first two stories. Willow Springs, an all-black Island community off the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia, is home to Cocoa and Mama Day, char acters that appeared briefly in Linden Hills. Descendants of an African slave and sorceress, Cocoa and Mama Day lead disparate lives until Cocoa becomes desperately ill. Ticknor published Mama Day in 1988.

Naylor depicts the lives of 1940s...