Customer Reviews

Light, Coming Back: A Novel

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
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How refreshing to find this novel that synthesizes the elements of popular fiction with the texture and layers usually reserved for books to be read again and again. Ann Wadsworth skillfully reveals Mercedes Medina: a woman willing to examine and pursue the awakening she experiences. Mercedes welcomes the mystery she discovers within herself. Her conversations with the other pivotal characters in the book (Patrick, Lennie, and Diana) illuminate not only the relationships but also the mastery of language that Wadsworth so deftly projects. These three characters still hold hidden places for me and that is one of the reasons (other than simply reading the WORDS again!) that I want to reread the book immediately. The experience of the book mesmerizes the reader as surely as the experience itself holds Mercedes in its grasp.

The cultural parameter of Italy -- its language, its art, its passion -- provides the characters with a background worthy of their story. The motifs of the gardenia, the lisianthus, the "downward pull" throughout the book come together to impact the sensibilities of the reader. The ambiguity, which really wasn't ambiguity but more a sense of mystery, again spoke to me in the times the main character was called Mrs. Medina, Mercedes, or Merce. Mercedes says, "Although subtleties, I am told, are what give texture to one's life"; Ann Wadsworth's words give texture to her rendition of that story which is destined to haunt the heart and tease the imagination after the cover has been closed -- on the first reading.
Elizabeth Ackley, Professor of English, Wilmington College,
2 Triangle Park Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45246

Light Coming Back -- Ann Wadsworth

Another coming-out story? Perhaps, but like none you have ever read before. Mercedes Medina is nearing 60 and preparing for the imminent death of her husband. Finding herself drawn to an impetuous woman nearly half her age, she struggles for balance as passion collides with responsibility, desire with loyalty, lust with love and the present with the past and future. The ending wraps things up neatly which reminded me--it is fiction!

Wonderfully observed and understood, this book is an inspiration. The story of a woman who breaks out of the resignation of her life to experience a physical, spiritual and emotional transformation. It is written with intelligence and style and left me feeling as if I had been on a long trip with fascinating people. It is a fully realized book.

I found poetry on each of this magical novel's pages. It is so rare that a "lesbian" novel reaches in and wraps itself around my experience and emotion. This one does. I only wish that Ms. Wadsworth had spent more time on the relationships between Mercedes and Lennie, then Diana and less on the annoying Patrick. The novel shines as Mercedes discovers herself and then what is the real music necessary for her to find complete happiness. If you shy away from lesbian literature because so much of it is a waste of time, this one is different. I cannot wait till Ms. Wadsworths next work.

After a lifetime of assuming that she understands her own sexuality, an older woman discovers that her feelings are much more complex than she has imagined in this beautifully-written novel. The protagonist and her confusion are finely etched, as are her dying (and defiant) husband and the many other people in her life. Eluding simple classification, this book raises questions that many women face, regardless of the actions they take, and its ending is grounded in reality while satisfying the reader's idealistic hopes for the main character. In addition to all these fine attributes, "Light, Coming Back" is a very engrossing read.

"Light, Coming Back" is one of the best books I have ever read! For a debut novel, Ann Wadsworth has created a gem of literary work, detailing the life of Mrs. Mercedes Medina, a 59-year-old woman as lost as one can be. Mercedes has lived a rich and full life, but has reached a crossroads: her celebrated musician husband, Patrick, is dying, and for the first time in her life, she is discovering who she truly is, what her desires are, and how to handle these new emotions. The journey of self-discovery is beautiful, from her interactions with a much younger Lennie, to the later friendship cultivated with the captivating Diana. The book is also rife with a few humorous moments, most notably a sword-brandishing Patrick, ready to defend his wife's honor! While many have labeled "Light, Coming Back" a lesbian novel, I find it to be one for all types of women who enjoy excellent writing and a look at one woman's inner discovery. Major kudos to Ms. Wadsworth for this book!

Ann Wadsworth's debut novel,"Light, Coming Back" , is wonderful.
Mercedes Medina, a Boston woman of a cerain age, discovers that
her sexual and (and other) identities are not as she assumed.
Wife of famous cellist Patrick Medina, Mercedes has spent her married life seeing largely to his needs. In failing body and
memory, Patrick's needs are becoming more obviously encumbering.
Changes are imminent. Some of them breathtaking.
For Mercedes Medina, 25 years Patrick's junior, a chance comes, redolent of an incident 20 years earlier - an incident submerged
in memory but not forgotten. A captivating woman, the gift of a
flower. Now, another captivating woman has entered Mrs. Medina's
life. What is she to do?
Novelist Ann Wadsworth has captured her characters with a deftness of touch I find amazing. Patrick, Mercedes Medina, et al
lived with my as I read. They live on in my memory as very welcome guests.
May I suggest this is not a Lesbian coming out story so much as
a story of becoming. The courage to be. We can thanks Ann Wadsworth for this fine, graceful novel and look for more ahead.

This book reminded me of an English book by a writer like Penelope Lively (which is a good thing). Sophisticated, subtle, yet charged with emotion. Wadsworth is an excellent writer. I loved the urban scenes in Boston - she does a great job of capuring the feel of the place. The main character is a bit pitiful in spots, and the ending tries a little too hard to neatly wrap things up, but those are small problems in this excellent book.

I cannot express enough how much I loved this book. Wadsworth's writing is exquisite, lovely. The characters are extremely well drawn and realized. It was also great to see such a strong, well-rounded central male character (the protagonist's husband) in a "lesbian" book. This book, however, even though it has lesbian themes, isn't just a book for lesbians, since the author tackles larger questions of identity, self-realization, and love. There are passages in this novel that made me weep just from their sheer beauty. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read that doesn't wrap everything up into a tidy little package but instead deftly explores the complications of its story and characters.

I put off buying this book for a long time. Then, once I bought it, I put off reading it for several weeks. I have no idea why because once I finally opened it, I loved it. I loved the story, the characters, the ending ... I was mesmerized by the writing. This is not romantic pulp -- this is five star literature. A beautiful, beautiful book.