Flashpoint [Paperback]

Katherine V. Forrest (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two-time Lambda Literary Award winner Forrest ( Curious Wine ) takes seven incisively drawn characters from the early stages of the gay-rights movement to 1991, when a crucial California bill prohibiting job discrimination against gays is awaiting the governor's signature. Lesbians Pat, Averill and Angela, along with Brad and his lover, Warren, are waiting in Pat's cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains for Donnelly, the dedicated and self-assured lesbian activist who has touched their lives, and for Donnelly's lover, Querida. The group is rife with tension. Brad, once married to Donnelly, and Pat, once Donnelly's lover, dislike each other. Averill, a renowned pro golfer, feels that the others don't understand her need for keeping her sexual orientation secret, while Warren is jealous of Brad's past with the fabled Donnelly. After Donnelly and Querida arrive, they all reminisce about their childhoods, families, lovers and various acts of "coming out." When the bill is vetoed, Donnelly makes a request of each of the others. By the novel's satisfying end, some at the cabin have changed, a love affair has begun and, on an upbeat note, Bill Clinton has been elected President. Though heavy with politically correct proselytizing, this is a clear and strong picture of a gay community. Author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This novel unfolds against the backdrop of California governor Pete Wilson's threatened veto of the gay civil rights bill. A charismatic woman named Donnelly sends out a clarion call to a small circle of friends and ex-lovers, who gather together in Pat's remote mountain cabin. Aside from the collective indignation over the veto, the reasons for this gathering are much more personal than political. In fact, it becomes a neat literary device whereby these friends can bring into the open their past fears, doubts, and jealousies to heal old wounds. Bradley slowly comes to terms with the breakup of his early marriage to Donnelly, while Pat mulls over her loss of Donnelly to flashy golf pro Averill. Forrest (Curious Wine, Naiad Pr., 1993. reprint) skillfully uses flashbacks to lay bare the innermost feelings of her characters-who, for the most part, are imperfect and believable. Since Flashpoint tethers itself to certain political events, it will become dated over time-but solely on this basis. On many other levels, this is a satisfying and thought-provoking book that will enhance Forrest's reputation. For public libraries.
Lisa Nussbaum, Euclid P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Naiad Pr (July 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562800795
• ISBN-13: 978-1562800796
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #603,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bitterly disappointed, November 24, 1999

By 

carlaf "carlaf" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Flashpoint (Hardcover)

I love everything that I have read of Katherine V. Forrest with the exception of this book. Rather than presenting rich and interesting characters, she has created stereotypes and this is a political polemic rather than a novel. There are other other types of writing such as an essay which would have done just as well as this piece. But please don't let this stop you from reading her Kate Delafield mysteries or The Emergence of Green. I was very disappointed because this is not what I would have expected from a Forrest novel. I consider her one of the best novelists I have ever read. I will consider Flashpoint an abberation. When you mix politics with literature, the results can be either great or lousy. In this case it was lousy.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Want to Use Your Brain, This One's A Good One!, July 14, 2004

By 

Marie Williams "mariawilliams2003" (Chicago, IL who reads a lot of lesbian fiction) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flashpoint (Hardcover)

It's really tough to branch out and write different kinds of literature - essays, mainstream novels, comedy, short stories, etc. - when everyone expects the author to stay in a certain, small, proscribed arena. In Forrest's case, she is known for writing taut lesbian characters in genre action or romances. This book is a departure from that. Though it is now a bit dated, the book explores a more intellectual and political side to the world. The characters are still taut, but they're not all lesbian, there is no hot sex, and romance is not really much of an angle to this story.

The book is well-written and definitely well worth reading. It reminded me somewhat of Patricia Nell Warren's book, The Beauty Queen. Warren got the same small-minded charges that her book wasn't enough like The Front Runner. I applaud Forrest for trying something new, and I liked the book immensely when I read it 10 years ago and now that I have read it again. She's a writer ahead of her time. Perhaps in 5 or 10 or 20 more years, people will go back and read her take on the 90's like they are now with Felice Picano's take on the 80's. Believe me, I think this book will last.

Take a chance here! Read something that makes you think as well as feel! It's worth it. The book is really quite fascinating.

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be a Mandatory Read for every young Gay and Lesbian!, January 20, 2008

By 

M. Clay "M." (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Flashpoint (Paperback)

Is this book the same, fun read of rest of KF's novel, probably not. But wow, does it do a great job of giving others a view of what growing up as a lesbian or gay pre 90s was like. Where we now finally have at least the beginning of acceptance and finally seeing those in our community being treated as equals, it certainly has not always been this way. For each of the characters in this book, I know mutliple people that have suffered similar experiences...including myself.

If for no other reason, the younger members of our community owe it to themselves and to our united cause to see what it was like just a few mere years ago. Why voting and being politically aware is so important to them personally, to our commuinity and to our country. It has not always been so easy to be out of the closet and it certainly provides a small insight to some of the scares our community pioneers continue to bare.