A Departure from the Script: A Novel - Softcover

Schwab, Rochelle Hollander

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0964365014 ISBN 13: 9780964365018

Publisher: Orlando Place Pr, 2002

Synopsis

Sheila Katz, the irrepressible main character of A Departure from the Script, is a Jewish mother who helps her lesbian daughter plan a traditional Jewish lesbian wedding. What's more, she's doing it behind her husband's back! And if that isn't enough tsuris -- Yiddish for aggravation -- for one person, then what is she to make of her own new infatuation with a striking lesbian artist? Read the book and find out!

About this title

About the Author

Rochelle Schwab lives with her husband near Washington, DC, and is active in Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Her work in PFLAG, and her relationship with her two daughters, spurred her to a fictional exploration of family issues. She's author of three previous novels; the last, In a Family Way, was included in Reading Group Choices: Selections for Lively Book Discussions 1997.

From the Back Cover

Sheila Katz has it all: a successful amateur theater debut, a husband who looks like Robert Redford and performs in bed like a man twenty years his junior, and two wonderful grown children. True, her son became Catholic when he married - not a Jewish mother's dream. But Sheila is sure that any day now her daughter will announce her engagement to a wonderful Jewish boy. When the announcement comes though, there's one small change to Sheila's script. Jenny's intended is a wonderful Jewish girl.

With assistance from a support group, Sheila rises to the occasion and helps Jenny plan a blowout lesbian wedding. Even as she calls caterers, Sheila is keeping the affair secret from her disapproving spouse. But another secret disturbs her far more: She has become infatuated with a striking lesbian artist. Now Sheila is dreaming of an affair of her own, one that could alter her life forever.

"Rochelle Hollander Schwab is a funny, lively writer who has something of importance to say to her readers about homophobia, acceptance, and family love. She delivers her message with humor and heart. A Departure from the Script will provide fodder for lively discussion about the many issues touched upon. Of equal importance, the novel's cast of sympathetic characters will stay with readers after they've finished the book."
--Stephen McCauley, author of True Enough and The Object of My Affection

Reviews

When her 25-year-old daughter, Jenny, announces that she is a lesbian and has met a woman she loves, Sheila Katz tries to take pleasure in her daughter's happiness but finds that her husband is unwilling to do the same. Dan is convinced that Jenny is only going through a phase and that once she meets the right man, she'll realize her mistake. Sheila finds the monthly PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) meetings extremely helpful, but after he attends one, Dan refuses to go back. When Jenny and Tamara ask for Sheila's support in planning (and helping to pay for) their traditional Jewish wedding, she further incurs Dan's anger by agreeing. At the same time, Sheila finds her own heretofore-unquestioned heterosexuality challenged when she realizes that she is strongly attracted to a lesbian artist. Schwab's touch is light, but her message is earnest (and only occasionally didactic). She raises difficult issues as she shows how families can support and accept their children who come out to them as a gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Nancy Pearl
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Edition details

• Publisher: Orlando Place Pr
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0964365014
• ISBN 13: 9780964365018
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 328