Looking Glass Lives: A Novel - Softcover

Picano, Felice

3.48

50 ratings by Goodreads

9781555834814: Looking Glass Lives: A Novel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1555834817 ISBN 13: 9781555834814

Publisher: Alyson Books, 1998

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Stories within stories, secrets buried throughout generations, and the mysterious presence of a solitary figure from the Civil War era twist around the dangerous, sexually charged triangle of Roger Lynch, his wife, Karen, and his cousin, Chas. Although tormented by each other, they are brought together in a cycle of jealousy and passion they are incapable of breaking. Searching for answers, haunted by childhood memories, Roger uncovers the long-hidden secret of their small town and unleashes the tragic, inescapable destiny for them all.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

Before he began writing fiction primarily marketed to a gay readership, Felice Picano was a noted author of suspense and supernatural tales. Smart as the Devil and Eyes were critical and popular successes when they were released in the mid-'70s, and Picano returns to the genre with Looking Glass Lives, a contemporary gothic thriller that draws upon such diverse sources as Robert Nathan's classic novel Portrait of Jennie and Kenneth Branagh's film Dead Again. As with all of Picano's fiction (especially his bestselling 1994 novel, Like People in History), Looking Glass Lives is compulsively readable and always surprising. Roger Lynch, his wife, Karen, and his cousin Chas are caught in a dangerous, sexually fraught emotional m�nage � trois, but only when Roger begins to unearth the deep, tormented secrets of their small New England town's history does he comprehend the real crux--and horror--of their relationship. Picano understands his characters and is unafraid to explore and expose their most intimate emotional and sexual needs. But he is also a master of suspense, and as Looking Glass Lives hurtles towards its shocking climax, we are both disturbed and terribly pleased to have been on the trip. --Michael Bronski

From Library Journal:

The latest work from Picano (Like People in History, LJ 6/15/95) is an intriguing Gothic tale involving the intertwined lives of three people whose gender (but not their destiny) changes from one lifetime to the next. As a young boy in the small coastal town of Nansquett, Roger Lynch is fascinated by stories about a spinster named Amity Pritchard and her house, which is supposedly haunted. His cousin Chas introduces him to the old house and also plays a significant role in his sexual awakening. Roger leaves Nansquett as an adult and marries, but on a return visit he and his wife, Karen, learn that the Pritchard house is to be torn down. They feel compelled to buy and restore it. Roger finds Amity's diaries in the library and discovers that the lives of Amity, her sister Constance, and Capt. Eugene Calder bear a strange parallel to Karen's, Chas's, and his own. While Picano is known as a gay novelist and there are gay elements here, this is not a gay novel; rather, it is an engaging blend of memory, mystery, reincarnation, and sexual tension that should appeal to a wide readership. Recommended.?Phillip Oliver, Univ. of North Alabama Lib., Florence
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.