Night Diving [Paperback]

Michelene Esposito (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

Night Diving is both a young woman's coming-out story and a 30-something coming-of-age journey that proves you can go home again. It is the story of Rose Salino, a thirty-year-old woman living the San Francisco chic lesbian lifestyle, who loses her job as a chef and her lover on the same day. The next day her grandmother dies and in the course of returning to her hometown for a funeral, she sees her childhood best friend and first love, Jessie. They begin to rekindle their friendship, which later becomes a romance. Through a series of crises Rose is forced to look at her life and find the courage to create a future that is true to her real self and her heart.

With the support of friends and the hard lessons born from life's challenges, Rose takes the risks to create a life she wants rather than the life she thinks she's "supposed to have."

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Told mostly in flashbacks, this first novel centers on a childhood friendship that eventually blossoms into an adult love. When her grandmother dies, Rose must leave San Francisco and return home, where she runs into her old best friend and first crush, Jessie, sparking a slew of memories. Growing up, each girl had a major cross to bear in dealing with her mother: Rose's mother, Vivian, suffered from manic depression while Jessie's battled a less severe form of depression. As the girls became closer, they also endured the constant pranks of their classmates and the ostracism that inevitably came with being different in high school. Fearful of the girls' closeness and what it might mean, Rose's parents even moved the family to another neighborhood and school district to force a separation. At the heart of the story, however, is Jessie's secret-a sexually abusive father and the toll that he has taken on her emotional life. A clinical psychologist by training, Esposito has written a thoughtful and sensitive coming-of-age-and coming out-story, full of drama but balanced with enough intelligence and subtlety so that it doesn't lapse into histrionics. Recommended for all public libraries.
Caroline Mann, Univ. of Portland Lib., OR
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Michelene was born in Smithtown, NY. She received her B.A. from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology. Her short stories have appeared in "YM" and "Teen" magazines. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her partner Dru and their son Benjamin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 221 pages
• Publisher: Spinsters Ink (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883523524
• ISBN-13: 978-1883523527
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,273,657 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A recommended novel, May 25, 2007

By 

wildlx - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night Diving (Paperback)

From the book back cover:

"Rose Salino is living the perfect lesbian-chic lifestyle in San Francisco. But then she loses both her lover and her job on the same day. Twenty-four hours later, her grandmother dies and so Rose must journey home for the funeral.

Once there, she meets up with Jessie, her best friend from childhood - and her very first love. Through the crises she faces, Rose is forced to look at her life and find the courage to create a future that is true to her self and to her heart.

Will Rose take the risks necessary to create the life she wants - rather than the life she thinks she's "supposed to have"?"

When she was nine Rose's world fell apart as her mother got sick with manic-depression. Now at thirty she is again seeing her carefully controlled world fall apart, and is forced to look at her life. In Night Diving, Rose dives into her past and tells us of her childhood and of growing up with her best friend Jessie, who like her is the product of a dysfunctional family. But the question Rose has to face in the book is how to find the courage to finally take risks, in order to move out of her carefully constructed controlled life into the world of possibilities that a life with Jessie represents.

Night Diving deals with issues such as mental illness, sexual abuse and cancer but Esposito manages to keep her writing balanced and with enough sense of humour so that the book doesn't turn into a melodrama. I highly recommend this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great first novel!, September 30, 2003

By 

M. Dotson "lucnethl" (Small town, West Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night Diving (Paperback)

I happened on to this at a local library. I found myself quickly wrapped up in this book. The situations and dialogues are very believable and realistic. I found that it rushed the ending a little and some of the earlier details were sacrificed, like she had more to say but had to pare it down. However, I am anxiously awaiting Esposito's second effort.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Healing Feminist Literature, September 30, 2004

By 

Granolaboy "Granolaboy" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night Diving (Paperback)

While dealing with difficult and disturbing issues like breast cancer, incest, alcoholism and homophobia, "Night Diving" is nevertheless not so much a depressing book about victims, as it is a joyous book about survivors. "Night Diving" is an empowering read, which will touch your heart, make you weep and make you laugh. Like all the wonderful, feminist novels from Spinster's Ink, it is a stellar book!