From Amazon
Timothy Leary extolled this first novel as "poignant and hilarious . . . rowdy sexual expression rarely seen in literary works by women." Maria finds herself surrounded by departures, but she's going nowhere herself. Her lesbian lover has deserted her, her friends are dying, and neurosis strangles what used to be a workable lifestyle. Yet Maria finally learns the route to real love and her own redemption from two male friends. Author Elise D'Haene's prose is stunning, showing off her talent with imagery that also has made her a fine screenwriter.
From Library Journal
Drumbeats of fear, disease, and death punctuate this book, getting louder and closer together as Maria's friends Matthew and Peter sicken and die from AIDS. Maria wants to turn back the clock to a time when her friends were still robust, when she and the girlfriend who has left her (readers only learn why at the end of the book) were finding new places to explore and new heights to ascend. In visions and flashbacks, Maria replays scenes of her childhood, by turns awkward, terrifying, heartbreaking, and comical. She recalls her close bond with her brother Joseph, who never returned from Vietnam, and her sexual initiation the night of her Catholic high school reunion by the guidance counselor, Miss Cook. She loses Miss Cook just as she loses nearly everyone else, but Maria maintains a deliciously wry humor, which keeps hurt and despair at bay. First novelist D'Haene is something of a cross between Anais Nin and JoAnn Loulan and, as such, is very graphic in depicting sexual acts. A raw, blunt novel with a lot of sting.?Lisa S. Nussbaum, Euclid P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.