From Publishers Weekly
Jana, a curator at a small New York art gallery, is engaged in the artist's eternal struggle for recognition. She enters competitions, spends summers at Yaddo and paints obsessively. She is also 34 years old and a virgin. Traumatized by a doctor's sexual abuse when she was a 10-year-old at camp, she avoids men, instead lavishing attention on her collection of stuffed animals, even cuddling up at night with her pet lion Leroy. When she meets Ed, a kind man to whom she feels increasingly attracted, she tries to liberate herself from her past and accept his love. As she embarks on her most critical struggle--to understand and resolve her childhood trauma and unlock her adult sexuality--she also begins to paint more freely and successfully. Unfortunately, Ratner's ( Bobby's Girl ) writing is stilted, and her characters are fettered in a bland, intellectualized two-dimensionality. Jana's conversations with friends and her own interior monologues are neither sufficiently personal nor sufficiently imaginative to illuminate the process of her healing. Although the premise is worthy, the story never generates enough passion, sexual or otherwise, to be truly satisfying.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Artist Jana Replensky seems to be battling the same problems as many women in modern society: a stressful job, unfulfilling relationships, and a need to find herself. As she tells Jana's story, Ratner gives us a very intriguing look at the artistic community and how much art galleries are at the mercy of corporate businesses. Ratner is also very successful in presenting what happens to young Jana after she is molested by a 70-year-old doctor at summer camp when she is ten. This dark secret has all but destroyed Jana's relationships with men. But when she is forced to work with Ed, a corporate businessman, on a funding project for the gallery, it turns out to be a liberating experience. A very well-written look at the emotions and problems Jana has encountered, this is recommended for all public libraries with a note that there are some explicit scenes. Ratner is also the author of five books of poetry and Bobby's Girl ( LJ 10/15/86).
- Vicki Cecil, Johnson Cty. Lib., Greenwood, Ind.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Vicki Cecil, Johnson Cty. Lib., Greenwood, Ind.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
