Althea, Viola, and Lillian Butler are three sisters who have gone through good times and bad, almost always together. Althea basically raises her sisters and their brother, Joe, after their beloved mother dies and their father's job takes him away for months at a time. Each of the Butler sisters has her own demons, but nothing prepares them for the unthinkable.

When Althea and her husband Proctor, successful restaurant owners and upstanding citizens who give back to their community, are found guilty of fraud and embezzlement, Lillian, who lives in the house the Butlers grew up in, takes in their teenage daughters, Baby Vi and Kim. She also cares for her deceased ex-husband's mother who needs near constant supervision. Viola lives in Chicago, recently separated from her wife and is trying not to give into the eating disorder that rears its ugly head whenever she's stressed. But Viola comes to help Lillian with their nieces after Althea goes to prison.

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF RAVENOUSLY HUNGRY GIRLS is an emotional look at an African- American family, dealing with a host of issues - incarceration, abuse, depression, eating disorders, and much more. While the issues are heavy and the conversations at times hard to read, Anissa Gray's debut novel is an intriguing look at the secrets families keep from one another, and while it may be extremely difficult, how families come together when it matters most. I found Gray's writing style simple yet poetic, which worked well during both the descriptions of struggles as well as the passages of hope for the future.