Arlene Germain
reviews

Saving Grace
The Intersection of Law and Desire
&
No Ocean Deep

Arlene Germain is a former English teacher who currently lives in Massachusetts.  She is a book reviewer for  The Lambda Book Report [www.lambdalit.org], the Golden Crown Literary Society newsletter, The Crown, [www.goldencrown.org], the  Midwest Book Review [www.midwestbookreview.com], and the Just About Write Newsletter [www.justaboutwrite.com].

Like any reviewer, I am sure that she would like to hear from you—either your thoughts on her review, or to submit a book to her for review in future issues of IGW. You can contact her, here.
252
SavingGraceSaving Grace

By Jennifer Fulton

Yellow Rose Books

ISBN 1-932300-26-0

Paperback,167 pages, $15.95



Dawn Beaumont, a once promising Australian champion swimmer with Olympic aspirations, is again bemoaning the sad state of her twenty-two year-old life to her cousin Trish. It’s been six months since Dawn’s accident shattered any prospects for an athletic career. To make matters worse, she has returned to her parents’ home which causes her to proclaim dramatically, “It’s driving me ‘round the bend living at home.“ (Page 1) Trish explains that she has planned a holiday get-away for Dawn, a return trip to the isolated Moon Island, so that she can relax, strengthen her body, and generally get her priorities in order. Recognizing an opportunity to escape from her parental strangle-hold, Dawn reluctantly accepts her cousin’s offer to return to a place which has less than pleasant memories for her. However, at this stage in Dawn’s life, any alternative would be better than her present situation.

Grace Ramsay, a thirty-two year-old scientist and savvy career woman from New York City, is on her way to Moon Island where she will be conducting discreet geological studies for Argus Chemco, a worldwide conglomerate searching for a new dumping ground for toxic wastes. Grace, too, has a past, one she has neither accepted nor dealt with. However, this is only one of the reasons why this so very cool and composed woman careens from one meaningless affair to another, consumes far too much alcohol, and is so ruthless in both her professional and personal dealings with others.

The two women soon find themselves sharing the small island, and this proves to be a challenge for them both. Add to this mix a former lover, an unscrupulous businessman, a casual one night stand, and another’s sexual awakening, and you have all the elements necessary to keep you reading until the very last word of the epilogue.

Jennifer Fulton has created credible conflicts, both internal as well as external.  The main characters, Dawn and Grace, are beset with numerous problems which each can no longer avoid, deny, or escape. Yet these struggles are described through viable actions and believable dialogue. Both women have realistically reached that pivotal point in their lives, and for better or worse, the choices each woman will make will affect more than simply themselves.

This novel offers well-rounded, three-dimensional characters, not stereotypes or stock players. The secondary characters are endowed with personality, insight, and humor. There are people the reader grows fond of, wants to spend time with, and hopes only the best for, like the septuagenarian nurse living alone on a Pacific atoll or the bi-sexual personal assistant who, after having spent only one brief evening of lust with Grace, understands Grace better than Grace cares to admit or even recognize.

Fulton’s writing style is fluid, fast-paced, and compact, yet it is extremely descriptive, “…watching the procession of colors from sapphire to heliotrope to amethyst, until finally the blood-red sun fused with the ocean.” (Page 35) The diction chosen captures the mood of the scene, “…blinking in the buttercup light of morning.” (Page 50) This appreciation for just the right word enhances the narrative, “In the moonlight, she glowed marble-smooth, her hollows and contours deeply shadowed.” (Page 74) Proficiency in word choice too often is a neglected skill. Being able to strike that natural balance between the trite and the florid is a talent which is most evident in this novel. Imagery is not given short shrift here.

Ethics, moral principles, integrity, self-worth, acceptance, and societal accountability are some of the themes touched upon in Saving Grace. However, the author has managed to seamlessly weave them throughout the intelligent plotting, that the reader never loses sight of the fact that she is reading a true romance novel of two women on a journey of discovery. It is to the author’s credit that the reader can so easily read between the lines; there is depth to this novel.

Jennifer Fulton’s Saving Grace is an enjoyably entertaining and rewarding way to spend a few hours. The exceedingly likable and believable characters find themselves in the midst of various intriguing and startling developments. The delicate convolutions of personal relationships, sexual awakening, and past misfortunes will keep the reader thoroughly engaged and satisfied. Although this novel is Book II in Fulton’s Moon Island Series, it is not a prerequisite to have read the first installment. This is an excellent stand-alone novel, complete in its detail and current issues. Saving Grace has all the hallmarks of a well written romance novel: unique setting, superb characters, plausible dialogue, and realistic and exciting sexual depictions. This is a tale that will make you want to pack your bag, buy an airplane ticket, and check into that tropical cottage on Moon Island where you can read the rest of the series.
 250
IntersectThe Intersection of Law and Desire

By J.M. Redmann

Bywater Books (2004)

ISBN: 1932859012

Paperback,357 pages, $12.95



In 2004, a relatively new lesbian press, Bywater Books, reprinted J. M. Redmann’s award-winning novel, The Intersection of Law and Desire, the third installment of the four-book Micky Knight series. The intervening ten years have neither diminished the emotional power of this book nor rendered it a literary anachronism in any way. Redmann has created a complex and multifaceted female private investigator unlike others found in this genre.  At times brash, aloof, even morose, Micky Knight is a reflection of the Louisiana bayou where she was raised and the seamy underbelly of the New Orleans which provides her often distasteful livelihood. Quietly vulnerable yet ruthlessly straightforward, Micky is an intricate woman whose personal demons color her every professional action and personal interaction. Through Redmann’s carefully constructed articulation of every nuance of her main character, she has created a woman about whom the reader cannot remain ambivalent. Micky is no superhero, no Wonder Woman.   She is a woman beset with petty foibles, exaggerated perceptions, and often sardonically cynical and contemptuous words. However, despite this seemingly callous façade, the reader discovers a worthy, valiant, and ethical woman whose perspective on life is quite simple. When told to let the law deal with an egregious adversary, Micky responds, “The law? I want justice.” (p. 355)  This simple statement serves as the thematic underpinning for Redmann’s story and proclaims one of the few certainties in the detective’s life.

Micky is working two cases, one involving the young daughter of a friend and the other a discontented relative of her lover, Dr. Cordelia James. As she delves deeper into what initially appears to be disparate circumstances, Micky soon discovers that prostitution, drugs, pornography, and an exclusive private club’s clientele are all intertwined. Events spiral beyond her control, test her increasingly tenuous relationship, and cause her to finally verbalize and examine her early childhood experiences from a new perspective.

Redmann has crafted a multi-layered narrative with outstanding prose. The word choice is rich and evocative of the New Orleans setting. Following a lead, Micky drives through a rough section of town to locate a bar. “Heart of Desire sat on one corner, a tawdry whore of a bar.” (p. 137) The dialogue is extremely well written, often times poignant, witty, and figurative. To enhance the characterization the author frequently has Micky reflect her world-weary attitude through a sardonic or self-deprecating comment. Micky is the quintessential hard-boiled private eye doing all the things good detectives do. Yet, when she ventures beyond the scope of her profession, the reader recognizes an emotionally crippled woman, who at best, is reaching for a lifeline with one hand while cutting it with the other. Redmann has created a profoundly memorable character with whom the reader genuinely empathizes. Despite her trenchant flaws and human failings, Micky conscientiously attempts to put things right, to replace chaos with some degree of order, to save those she can, if not herself.

Redmann’s stylish depiction of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, has and will continue to withstand the test of time. The Micky Knight novels are intricately developed with meticulously drawn characterizations and thoroughly satisfying action scenes. Micky’s casual sexual encounters serve the reader more to illustrate her inadequacies rather than to titillate. Her intimate scenes with Cornelia display a range of emotions: tenderness, obligation, humor, and anguish. Micky and Cornelia are in so many ways complete opposites. Yet, each woman recognizes in the other that essential component each needs to give her life purpose and a measure of joy.

Redmann’s use of the first person point of view is a fairly common device used in detective fiction, but to write the story in any other would certainly detract from the immediacy the reader feels with the protagonist. Micky does have tunnel vision when it comes to certain things in her life, but through this storytelling device, the reader has a better understanding of her motivation, her rationale for acting the way she does, even when it is detrimental to her or those around her. The tone of the story is clearly established through the first person voice. It strips away the layers of pretense, excess, and perplexity in a way that enables the reader to experience a visceral rather than a passive response. Redmann’s superlative pacing keeps the action-oriented scenes swiftly moving along with twists and turns that are deftly developed. There is a kind of film noir quality to Micky and her world of crime, deception, and banal immorality. At the same time, Redmann explores those intrinsic qualities like loyalty and compassion that many aspire to yet few achieve. And, it is all done through the steamy haze of the Big Easy and the enigmatic bayou.

The Intersection of Law and Desire is further confirmation that J. M. Redmann is an author of detective novels which transcend the typical format. Her distinctly literary style sets Redmann apart from the others. She has created a memorable persona in the anti-heroine Micky Knight. This is a character who resonantly affects the reader through Micky’s arduous struggles to seek both redemption and affirmation. If you are searching for that detective story with depth, style, and quality writing, this novel will not disappoint you. Having read and immensely appreciated all four books in the Knight series, this reviewer hopes that there will indeed be a fifth installment.		 250
No cover available - pub date May 2005
No Ocean Deep

By Cate Swannell

Yellow Rose Books (2005)

ISBN: 1-932300-36-8

Paperback, 305 pages, $18.95



No Ocean Deep is the much anticipated sequel to Cate Swannell’s outstanding freshman novel, Heart’s Passage. As Cadie Jones gazes at her sleeping lover, Jo Madison, she thinks, “We have so many loose ends to tidy up before life settles down for us.” (p.5)  Little does Cadie realize that the previous six weeks, which she and Jo have shared, will pale in comparison to what lies ahead for the attractive couple. Set in the Australian tropics where Jo operates a pricey yacht-for-charter business, the women soon find their path to happiness and a stable future will take them far from their spectacularly idyllic Great Barrier Reef to the clamorous activity of Chicago, the home of Senator Naomi Silverberg, Cadie’s former lover, who does not take kindly to rejection. When Cadie decides to unconditionally settle things with Naomi and Jo opts to reveal her lurid past to her estranged family, the course of events far exceeds their wildest imaginings. The Senator from Illinois has had a difficult time in the political arena, and more significantly, her precariously tenuous hold on her sanity has transformed her into an even more treacherous enemy. For Josie, it has been fifteen years since she left her family in Coonyabby. Secrets furtively kept too long, love twisted into obsession, and horrifying violence ultimately coalesce to create for Jo and Cadie a perilous journey which could alter their lives forever.

Writing a successful sequel for a popular book can be a daunting task. However, Swannell has managed to do so quite effectively. The beginning of the sequel provides just enough information for the reader which makes having to have read the first book irrelevant. No Ocean Deep could very well be a stand-alone novel.  For those who have read Heart’s Passage, they will find the segue between the books to be seamlessly credible. The opening scene has an easy natural flow to it that immediately immerses the reader in the action. The main characters’ personalities are rapidly established, and the reader quickly finds Jo and Cadie to be a most congenial, amusing, and committed couple, two women  anyone would want to know. They are realistic, round, three-dimensional characters, and the dialogue between these two women has that special quality of familiarity and intimacy. The playful give and take, and the endearing repartee show the reader that they are indeed intelligent, witty, and caring individuals who belong together.

There is a tranquil, comfortably languid sense to various portions of the book.  Swannell manages to capture that laid-back tropical feeling in her setting. “The sun blazed out of a cloudless blue sky and the yacht bobbed gently on a calm jewel-green ocean.” (p. 9) She is equally adept at creating a vivid picture of the Australian outback, “Its harsh lines and dry colors shimmered in the oppressive heat.” (p. 89) The place descriptions along with the occasional Aussie slang envelope the reader; one easily becomes part of Jo’s and Cadie’s environment. Swannell is equally adept at creating the tone and atmosphere of Chicago. From the bureaucratic tedium of O’Hare airport to the congenial banter of a taxi driver, the author creates a distinct departure from the first half of the novel.

There is no hidden symbolism here, no profound philosophical commentary. What is here is simply good, old-fashioned, straightforward romantic storytelling. When Cadie and the Senator meet again, the story assumes a much darker and more malevolent tone and mood. Masterful use of foreshadowing enables the suspense to build incrementally, and then the reader is squarely in the midst of this terrifying confrontation. Swannell has created one of lesbian fiction’s more perverse antagonists in the figure of Naomi Silverberg. For her, charming and rational are only a stone’s throw away from diabolical and psychotic. The good senator is indeed someone the reader loves to hate.

Swannell’s secondary characters are first-rate additions to the storyline. Jo’s father, David, reticently displays all of the emotional pain, ambivalence, and bewilderment of a parent whose child has inexplicably disappeared and then has re-emerged after fifteen years of no contact. Conversely, Maggie, Jo’s more demonstrative mother, reacts as the reader would hope, “Don’t you worry about that. If you’re happy, that’s all I care about.” (p. 94)

No Ocean Deep is a genuine delight to read. It is capably written in a prose style which swiftly carries the reader from page to page. The sexual scenes are sensual and satisfying, the action scenes are energetic and suspenseful, the characters are appealing and unpretentious, and the conflicts are resolved in a satisfying and logical scheme. Cate Swannell’s No Ocean Deep is unquestionably worth reading. It is the type of novel that captivates the reader with its first few pages and maintains that focused interest throughout the totally compelling journey.
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