An Emergence of Green - Softcover

Forrest, Katherine V.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 093004469X ISBN 13: 9780930044695

Publisher: Naiad Pr, 1986

Synopsis

A REISSUE OF THIS GROUNDBREAKING AND BESTSELLING LESBIAN FICTION CLASSIC The reissue of Katherine V. Forrest's timeless story of all-out war between a man and a woman for the body and soul of the woman they both desire. In the 1980s, the politics of feminism were just beginning to gain mainstream awareness. In this fast-paced novel, first published in 1986, Lambda Award winner Katherine V. Forrest nurtured a new genre of fiction: the lesbian emergence novel. In AN EMERGENCE OF GREEN, one of the best-selling lesbian novels of all time, an unplanned encounter between trophy wife Carolyn Blake and her new neighbour - tall, athletic artist Val Hunter - leads to a close friendship and deepening emotions that young Carolyn has never known. Carolyn begins to question her attitudes, her life, her marriage, and her sexuality. The two women's intense physical encounters force Carolyn at last to acknowledge her true desires and to rethink her values and her cloistered life. Can Carolyn really give up comfort for unfamiliar territory, stability for fulfilment?

About this title

About the Author

Katherine V. Forrest is one of the best-known lesbian writers in the world. Author of 13 works of fiction, all of which have been published abroad, she is twice winner of the Lambda Literary Award for best mystery, and has been honored with the Pioneer Award from the Lambda Literary Foundation. She has been profiled in virtually every major lesbian and gay publication in America, as well as in numerous magazines and newspapers internationally. Senior fiction editor at Naiad Press from 1984 to 1994, she now teaches classes and seminars on the craft of writing. She lives with her partner, Jo Hercus, and a tabby cat named Stevie, in San Francisco.

Review

Katherine V. Forrest's newest novel is the kind of revelatory, uplifting prose that gave courage in the 1970s to millions of women who were first learning what sexual politics was all about. Her style is a blend of romanticism and consciousness-raising dogma made tasty by her strong sense of adventure and racy sensuality.When Carolyn, the young wife of an ambitious executive, begins to awaken to the emptiness of her life, it is not long before the conflict starts. Her husband Paul is a textbook case of pathological chauvinism: he rigidly controls his wife's style of dress, job opportunities, contact with friends; and he uses the title "princess" to both exalt and ensnare her. The final showdown is precipitated by Carolyn's growing friendship with Val, an imposingly tall and sharp-witted visual artist who lives in the bungalow next door with her adolescent son. The novel offers many of the classic fantasy scenarios spawned by the early women's movement, from intellectual sparring between the neanderthal husband and the progressive, independent woman to a blushing yet lusty first sexual encounter between the two women. In her narrative, Forrest provides each character and circumstance with enough texture and complexity to make the story interesting. Carolyn's awakening to her need for independence and her love for Val is revealed with knowing delicacy. Paul, too, is more than simply a metaphor for misogyny. The author understands and describes the feelings of inadequacy and fear that are at the root of male supremacy behavior. There are a couple of elements that keep this story from transcending the limitations of the genre of popular romance. The naivete of the characters (the story is set during the Reagan re-election campaign) feels contrived. They are nominally aware of the political events of the previous decade yet their responses are emotionally flat, as if the information remained compartmentalized. This is not consistent with the sensitive nature of the three characters Forrest has created. And while Forrest's narrative explains the characters and their motivation, her dialogue does little to support that information. Too often it sounds anonymous. It could be used more to move the plot and define her characters and less to make political points. This book will please Katherine Forrest fans and people trying to catch up to the women's liberation movement, both of whom exist in great numbers. -- From Independent Publisher

Edition details

• Publisher: Naiad Pr
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 093004469X
• ISBN 13: 9780930044695
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288