Not Telling Mother: Stories from a Life [Paperback]

Diane Salvatore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1993

On a Provincetown vacation with two other couples, Renee learns that best friend Edie has begun an affair. Edie's call upon Renee's loyalties sets into motion an unexpected chain reaction...

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

These mostly interconnected stories get off to a bad start with Salvatore's clumsy imagery ("prone-on-the-potholed sand days"). But the collection soon turns into a spirited kaleidoscope of lesbian life. Three couples gather for a vacation in Provincetown, but infidelity lurks within the sextet, and the resolution threads its ways through several stories. Renee, the central character, needs some resolutions, too, of her past and present. She ponders her early role as the "first in a series of outrageous stunts and bizarre activities" of a former love, Roseanne, who gets married. Wistfully, she recalls her girlhood crush on Penny and later realizes that her own mother was loved by a cousin who entered a convent to smother that silent passion. Along the way we meet other characters, like Mike, the vindictive husband of Chrissie who runs off with Eileen, and Tess, whose idea of a turn-on is to whisk a waitress to the back of a restaurant for a "test drive" before a date. Salvatore ( Love, Zena Beth ) adds new twists to the themes of coming out and homophobia, and shows unrequited love, jealousy, betrayal and exploitation as the unhappy flip side of all forms of love, gay and straight.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In these brief stories, Salvatore examines the dilemma of whether to hide or reveal one's identity--in this case, being a lesbian. If a woman tells the truth about her life, what price will she pay? Will she lose her mother's love and emotional support? In the title story, this is exactly what Renee agonizes over. Other characters worry about ridicule or physical harm. It appears that Salvatore has lived through similar situations and has met women like the ones she portrays, because none is unbelievable or phony--though occasionally they are irritating. Too bad the author didn't include women from diverse races or ethnic backgrounds or even economic classes; almost all fit into the yuppie category. And because the stories move so quickly, none goes into great depth. Though starting with a good premise, the collection as a whole is choppy and uneven. A disappointing effort from a writer whose first book, Benediction ( LJ 10/1/91), was nominated for a Lambda Book Award.
- Lisa Nussbaum, Euclid P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 157 pages
• Publisher: Naiad Pr; 1st edition (November 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562800442
• ISBN-13: 978-1562800444
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,466,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Horrid cover hides a real gem!, February 17, 2001

By 

Lesbian Reader (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not Telling Mother: Stories from a Life (Paperback)

If you are lucky enough to find a copy of this book, don't let the awful cover turn you off. Inside you'll find a series of short stores that form a complete novel, and in those stories some excellent prose. Vivid with exasperation is the woman who is underwhelmed by her co-worker's stated tolerence for her lesbianism right after she has just been asked to applaud madly for her co-worker's engagement. Torn with anger is the daughter who refuses to comfort her religious father with the words that "Jesus forgave Judas" because she can't bring herself to compare her life and her partner to a traitor. Confused is the ex-husband who doesn't understand why his wife has taken up with another woman. Deeply in love are women at the center of the novel. Each story is a piece of a mosaic and the whole captures the range of lesbian lives with insight and feeling.