Customer Reviews

Red Audrey and the Roping

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If the gods of literature exist, they are smiling right now. Jill Malone's debut novel has certainly made me smile. I've just had the pleasure of reading an advance copy, and I feel like an explorer who has just discovered a wondrous territory, and I can't wait to tell everyone, show them this miraculous landscape that Jill Malone has created for us.

The blurb posted mentions Sarah Waters and Margaret Atwood. Throw in any author whose skill and maturity and dexterity with language makes you happy, and it won't be overkill. Joan Didion's novels. Jane Rule. Jane Smiley. Jane Hamilton. I am not overstating when I say that Red Audrey and the Roping measures up, more than meets that standard.

Honestly, I got chills reading this novel. It's that good. It's not often that a writer of such skill, such ease with tone, style, dialogue, setting, comes along.
Set in Hawaii, the story moves with Jane Elliott through a series of failed relationships, a series of disjointed scenes that all have to do with Jane's inability to trust herself and trust that anyone can love her. She struggles to come to terms with her dissociated life.

"The fire flickered without much warmth or enthusiasm. Emily rubbed her hands against the outside of my legs like a trainer. Her hands burned the surface of my skin. I shivered into a towel, her body bright and warm against mine as if I still shielded the match in my palms. I name that moment, I name that place, as the one that moved beyond what I could handle. As the one that moved."

What Jane can't handle is the crux, the heart of this novel, set in rich language, lush descriptions of both physical setting and the emotional geography of Jane's constant attempts to break free of the scars left by her mother's death. Until her repeated efforts to feel something lead to jumping off cliffs, until she can't feel anything. Hurling herself at challenges, at walls, at lovers, at anything she thinks will break her, Jane finally finds that, like Icarus, brief moments of flight that bring her closer to destruction don't just burn away her wings but burn scars that begin to show on the outside as well as inside.

Tethered to the ground, tied to the thing she would throw herself against, Jane breaks.

This is a novel of such depth and skill and beauty that I can only record my awe at Malone's immensely engaging, readable, memorable first novel.

As other readers mentioned, this is not an easy read -thank the gods of writing for complex, rich novels!

This isn't a linear story, it goes back and forth, and it took this reader a tiny minute to understand that the physical situation, the factual events, don't have as much weight as the emotional journey, which is absolutely linear and thoroughly consistent through the novel.

Events have weight in so far as they describe Jane's emotional turmoil and struggle, but this isn't a book about deeds, it's a book about feelings. In that regard, the book builds in intensity and anxiety as it develops, it's painful to witness Jane's struggle to trust that she's worth anything as an individual, the struggle to overcome a conviction -born and deeply rooted in the tragedy of her mother's death when she was a kid, that she's not worth anyone's love, or worse, that love can't be durable and it's best to expect a sudden death of it.

It's uncertain what the outcome will be, I hoped, but couldn't figure out how it would all end -that's a major plus for me, the fact that the character has a life of her own and I can't just expect the author to give her a break at will.

Major kudos for the 'secondary' characters--they have a life and a mind of their own, too, their relationship with Jane helps construct Jane's inability to trust and at the same time provides a much needed emotional crutch -for the reader more than for Jane.

This is a compelling and poignant read, there are so many memorable and very quotable passages that I felt the need to take it slow and savor it -this is another major plus, the desire to re-read a paragraph or a page because it left such an impression that you can't help but want to feel it again.

I recommend this book to readers that are patient, fond of introspection, fond of being challenged by complex literary quality. If you're that type of reader, you'll love this book.

This is a portrait of a self destructive, emotionally immature and self-pitying woman whose two best friends are thin and rich. Our heroine is also very thin and highly skilled at putting down fat people as grotesque. The protagonist is not just very thin; she's also very fit though her body is trashed from an inevitable accident and from letting her boyfriend tear up her back and wrists. Here's the thing I don't understand. How did a character of Chamorro descent come to bear such revulsion for fat people? Aren't many people from Guam big?

My biggest problem with the book is that it pretends to be deep but is actually shallow. It's clear Malone can write English and reveres language though I wish she had put her skills to more mature and illuminative use.

When I first picked up this book, it was merely because my name is Audrey and it gave me a little giggle to see my name on the cover of a book. It seemed interesting enough, so I bought it and I am extremely glad I did. What an amazing read. I can understand why it would be too complex for some readers though, as it does jump back and forth in time and I even had myself a little puzzled at times.

But as the book goes on, the pieces fall perfectly together. The characters are very distinct and the strong emotions surrounding them are unmistakable. The narrarator, Janie, fills in gaps of the story with moving speculations on life, love, and death using old greek myths she teaches in her Latin class. The metaphors and imagery in this book are equally as beautiful at the emotions of the characters and of the emotional journey itself. This book reminded me of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" in the way that the narrarator's sexual relationships become the stepping stones toward self-discovery. This is so much more than the average lesbian read.

This was a book that I highly reccomend to anyone with an appetite for literature; gay or straight.
An unforgettable book that I'll carry with me forever!

...this book is NOT about cowgirls. Notwithstanding the potential disappointment of that realization, the novel is stunning.

If, like me, you are a linear thinker, you will have to abandon that notion of storytelling and allow this tale weave itself. There is an almost visceral quality to the descriptive passages - the reader's every sense is engaged. The characters are complex, flawed, brave and often reckless. Love does not save these characters, they save themselves - and love is their reward.

Take the time to read this remarkable work.

If you keep running away, eventually you will succeed. "Red Audrey and the Roping" follows one Jane Elliot, one who has evaded her problems all of her life. Now forced into dealing what has pursued her, she's forced to face her past, her family, her friends, even her lover. A story of a woman finally coming to grip with a balanced existence and dealing with people, "Red Audrey and the Roping" is a moving read of human relationships.

Wow! I was looking for a lesbian themed novel that was more literay and boy did I get that, and so much more.

This book is beautifully written. The reader struggles along with the main character and grows with her as well.

I've recommended this book to several of my friends and I'm sure I'll never see that copy again because it is that good.

If this is Malone's first novel, I can only assume great things will follow!

Yes this is a well-written book. I found myself struggling with the early part of the novel and contemplating not finishing it, but I hung in and was able to get more interested about half way through. I had no connection with any of the people that jane allows herself to become entangled with. As a result, I wasn't particulary fond of Jane either. I don't know enough about Audrey to know if she is another of the oddities that Jane seems to collect.

It is good to find a lesbian-themed novel that is more literary and longer than 190 pages. I feel as if there is another 75 to 100 pages of explication that would help me know Jane and her entourage more fully. I will hold onto this book and read it again at a later date to see if my reaction to it is a result of the space in my head or the book that Malone wrote.

This was a very intense novel and I suspect that very intensity is what put off the reviewers who gave it less than the 5 stars it fully deserves. It's an in depth psychological study of a woman in adulthood coming to grips with the loss of her mothers love at an early age. Having shared the heroine's history of a suicidal mother this book affected me deeply and I can't stress enough that if you had a troubled childhood this book may stir up those feelings.

The Editorial Review from Booklist on the preceding screen summarizes the book exquisitely. I suggest reading it so you will immediately understand why the narrative travels from present to past.

**Remember - if you want your favorite authors to keep writing they have to be able to earn a living doing it. If possible buy the book NEW to provide the author with royalties. If you're not going to keep it in your collection put it in the recycle bin to make another book.**

Sorry, I know this book won an award and is supposed to be special, but I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea. I usually don't like for the protaganist in my lesbian novels to have sexual encounters with a male lover, but not to give too much away, these encounters were a little too S/M for me to stomach. Sorry I guess this book was just too sophisticated for little ol' me.