Best Lesbian Contemporary General Fiction
And the Rainbow Award goes to:
1) Farzana Doctor - Six Metres of Pavement
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Dundurn (February 17, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1554887674
ISBN-13: 978-1554887675
Amazon: Six Metres of Pavement
I wish there were more than 40 points available. This one so surpassed the others in all areas. Truly wonderful. --Jessica
I had a very diffictult time starting this story and as I read the story I asked myself "Why is this story in a GLBT writing contest?" It was around 1/2 through before I found out why. This writer is amazing. It was hard to read at first because the main character was so sad and had been for a very long time. By the end of the story he had finally forgiven himself for an 18 year old error, he had finally stopped looking over his shoulder at what did the neighbors think, and with the new friends and relationships he'd formed he was happy! I really enjoyed this book. --Debra
Ismail Boxwala made the worst mistake of his life one summer morning twenty years ago: he forgot his baby daughter in the back seat of his car. After his daughter's tragic death, he struggles to continue living. A divorce, years of heavy drinking, and sex with strangers only leave him more alone and isolated. But Ismail's story begins to change after he reluctantly befriends two women: Fatima, a young queer activist kicked out of her parents' home; and Celia, his grieving Portuguese-Canadian neighbour who lives just six metres away. A slow-simmering romance develops between Ismail and Celia. Meanwhile, dangers lead Fatima to his doorstep. Each makes complicated demands of him, ones he is uncertain he can meet.
2) Clifford Henderson - Maye's Request
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (January 25, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602821992
ISBN-13: 978-1602821996
Amazon: Maye's Request
A richly layered story peopled with complex and wonderful characters. Beautifully done. --Jessica
She has a history of complicated relationships. Is it her family legacy? Freshly out of college and possibly in love, Brianna Bell, aka Bean, worries that she’ll never be able to have a normal relationship due to her screwy upbringing. Her parents form a perfect triangle: Mom, Dad, and her mother’s lover-who also happens to be her Dad’s twin sister. Although each of Bean’s parents now lives alone, the animosity between the twins makes dealing with either of them like tiptoeing between landmines. Then her mom, Maye, is threatened with a rare and possibly fatal illness, and she begs Bean to help heal the rift between brother and sister. Reluctantly, Bean intervenes. But the more Bean finds out about her parents’ complicated history, the more she realizes how little she knows. A story of love, longing, and family values.
3) Martha Miller - Retirement Plan
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (May 17, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602822247
ISBN-13: 978-1602822245
Amazon: Retirement Plan
What do you do when you fall through the loopholes in the system and all you have to rely on are your own wits? Lois and Sophie have scrambled and saved for years, planning for their retirement in Florida. But now they've lost it all, and Lois's sniper training from her long-ago service as an Army nurse leads to a desperate career choice. When Detective Morgan Holiday is assigned to investigate a spate of sniper killings, it's just one more stress point in her already overburdened life. But as she grows increasingly solitary-coping with an Alzheimer’s-plagued mother who refuses to be confined to a nursing home, and a police partner counting the days to retirement-she comes to realize that these murders may cut close to home. A modern morality tale of justice, retribution, and women who refuse to be politely invisible. This entry was originally posted at http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/1357206.html.
1) Farzana Doctor - Six Metres of Pavement
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Dundurn (February 17, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1554887674
ISBN-13: 978-1554887675
Amazon: Six Metres of Pavement
I wish there were more than 40 points available. This one so surpassed the others in all areas. Truly wonderful. --Jessica
I had a very diffictult time starting this story and as I read the story I asked myself "Why is this story in a GLBT writing contest?" It was around 1/2 through before I found out why. This writer is amazing. It was hard to read at first because the main character was so sad and had been for a very long time. By the end of the story he had finally forgiven himself for an 18 year old error, he had finally stopped looking over his shoulder at what did the neighbors think, and with the new friends and relationships he'd formed he was happy! I really enjoyed this book. --Debra
Ismail Boxwala made the worst mistake of his life one summer morning twenty years ago: he forgot his baby daughter in the back seat of his car. After his daughter's tragic death, he struggles to continue living. A divorce, years of heavy drinking, and sex with strangers only leave him more alone and isolated. But Ismail's story begins to change after he reluctantly befriends two women: Fatima, a young queer activist kicked out of her parents' home; and Celia, his grieving Portuguese-Canadian neighbour who lives just six metres away. A slow-simmering romance develops between Ismail and Celia. Meanwhile, dangers lead Fatima to his doorstep. Each makes complicated demands of him, ones he is uncertain he can meet.
2) Clifford Henderson - Maye's Request
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (January 25, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602821992
ISBN-13: 978-1602821996
Amazon: Maye's Request
A richly layered story peopled with complex and wonderful characters. Beautifully done. --Jessica
She has a history of complicated relationships. Is it her family legacy? Freshly out of college and possibly in love, Brianna Bell, aka Bean, worries that she’ll never be able to have a normal relationship due to her screwy upbringing. Her parents form a perfect triangle: Mom, Dad, and her mother’s lover-who also happens to be her Dad’s twin sister. Although each of Bean’s parents now lives alone, the animosity between the twins makes dealing with either of them like tiptoeing between landmines. Then her mom, Maye, is threatened with a rare and possibly fatal illness, and she begs Bean to help heal the rift between brother and sister. Reluctantly, Bean intervenes. But the more Bean finds out about her parents’ complicated history, the more she realizes how little she knows. A story of love, longing, and family values.
3) Martha Miller - Retirement Plan
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books (May 17, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602822247
ISBN-13: 978-1602822245
Amazon: Retirement Plan
What do you do when you fall through the loopholes in the system and all you have to rely on are your own wits? Lois and Sophie have scrambled and saved for years, planning for their retirement in Florida. But now they've lost it all, and Lois's sniper training from her long-ago service as an Army nurse leads to a desperate career choice. When Detective Morgan Holiday is assigned to investigate a spate of sniper killings, it's just one more stress point in her already overburdened life. But as she grows increasingly solitary-coping with an Alzheimer’s-plagued mother who refuses to be confined to a nursing home, and a police partner counting the days to retirement-she comes to realize that these murders may cut close to home. A modern morality tale of justice, retribution, and women who refuse to be politely invisible. This entry was originally posted at http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/1357206.html.