Customer Reviews

Vera's Still Point

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

 

 

I have noticed some reviews having issue with the beginning of the book. There is a lot going on in the first 20 pages, but I think you will find it is a great read. The story flows quickly from that point on, and I really like the characters and the writer's sense of humor. I actually found myself reading the beginning again and enjoying it more, kind of like playing your favorite song after you have listened to a new cd.

I had really enjoyed Pipers someday and breaking spirit ridge, which I read both prior to this book. If I had
read this book first, I am not so sure I would have read the others at all. I just dont get the characters, as
they talk like they are 110 years old, and I just could not get engaged in them at all. The story line just misses
all over, and I ended up skipping a few pages just to get to the end.

Vera Curran was living a life where she missed most of the still points. She wasn't completely to blame for this because she was a forty year old lesbian librarian at a public high school in Virginia, a state that unfortunately is well known for being gay-unfriendly. Vera made the decision that the only way to protect her job was to live her life as a complete denial of her sexuality and follow a rather mundane and mind-numbing routine. She thought she was relatively happy living like that, until she met Frankie Bourden. Frankie was a former military pilot who decided to become a teacher with a mission to change the world, or at least her little corner of it. Frankie represented everything that Vera taught herself to be afraid of; she was out and proud and determined to shake up the system. And Vera couldn't resist her. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens in real life, the relationship is doomed to be of short duration because the reader learns on page 2 that Frankie dies from cancer, but, instead of being sad, the end of the book is uplifting. It tells the story of two women, how one awakened the life in the other and how the survivor learned to go on without her. The chapters alternate from the present when Vera is telling their story to her nephew Kyle and flashbacks of how the improbable relationship developed, beginning with cryptic questions on Post-It Notes. In the end, Vera would learn from Frankie that it's the still points and the people who make them for you that give richness to your life and she loved her for it.

Vera's Still Point is not a typical romance. There is a love story involved, but it's overshadowed by other themes. The first is the cost of living in an environment that will not let a person be who she truly is. People who do not live in one of the extremely conservative states may have trouble understanding Vera's fear about what could happen to her career if it becomes known that she is a lesbian. Virginia has been dominated for many years by the presences of the Rev. Pat Robertson and the late Rev. Jerry Falwell and was the birthplace of the Moral Majority. Perkinson, a former teacher, captures the repression of living in such an environment and the destruction it can wreck on a person's soul to be forced to live in the shadows. Vera's fear of discovery is real, which makes Frankie's openness either heroic or foolhardy, depending on how you view the outcome. The fact that Vera is so obviously unhappy in her personal life without realizing it will cause readers who have been in similar circumstances to consider what "still points" they have also failed to experience. There is a certain sadness in wishing that everyone could be as fearless as Frankie and knowing that it sometimes can't be so in real life.

There is the theme of how family dynamics shape a person's behavior or fail to shape it. Vera and Frankie's mothers make an interesting contrast of people who don't approve of something, but choose to deal with it in different manners. One interesting question that never quite gets answered is why Vera, who appears to have the more accepting family, doesn't have the courage to be more of a fighter for her life.

Also there is the theme of love discovered and lost. Or is it? The reader will be left to ponder whether the cessation of life has to be the cessation of love. Can love be sustaining when one person is a memory? And what happens if you are the one left behind? It would be expected that Vera, after so many years of cutting her emotions off and then finally discovering the deep joy that love can bring, would become bitter when it's taken away too soon or that she would retreat to her former behavior. Neither of those happens however and the book makes a powerful statement about drawing strength from the past to face the future.

Vera's Still Point is a thoughtful book told with humor and insight. While it tells a love story, it will also lead the reader into reevaluating life and what really matters. Hopefully, it will lead the readers to also be more aware and appreciative of the still points that they personally experience and the people who help to cause them.

Vera's Still Point is an outstanding first novel for Ruth Perkinson. The story is accessible for all,no matter what their orientation. A great book to help even the most hard hearted understand the depth of true love and the real meaning of family.

The book deals with gay civil union, but most deftly addresses the subject of teaching all sexual orientation in public schools, not just the traditional family values being spoon fed by our government under the potent influence of the Religious Right. Some readers will be surprised to learn that in 2006 it is still PROHIBITED to use the term gay or homosexual in many public school classroooms.

Perkinson is very brave to put her reputation as a former Virginia public school teacher on the line in a red state where to even breathe being gay, much less speak to the greater concern of young teen age children stuggling with their identity, is reason for dismissal. This book bridges the very real gap that still exists in this country. Perkinson has done for Virginia, what Ellen has done for Hollywood. She has shined a real, and believeable, and loving light on the multi dimensional and beautiful faces of gay people. Putting who they are as humans, ahead of a label or stereotype.

Ellen will be proud. So am I.

an excellent novel - even more so given it's Perkinson's first... I love this book, and read it in two sittings... and in truth, I continue to reread many sections... it has a good story, great characters, humor, sadness, a sweet love story, and a good message... Perkinson's great writing draws the reader into her character's lives and emotions... you can expect to laugh and cry as the story unfolds for Vera, Frankie, and their friends... Vera's Still Point is a compelling and moving story which illustrates how one person can set the ripples in motion for change and instills its readers with the hope that love can prevail over prejudice and hatred... Vera's lesson is one we hopefully all learn - be true to yourself and share it with the world, whether you are understood and accepted or not... I'm anxiously awaiting her next novel, Piper's Someday, due out in 2007.

Not your typical romance, Vera's Still Point, is a bold debut novel for Ruth Perkinson. The novel manages to challenge and entertain at the same time. Kudos for Perkinson for avoiding the same tired romance mold and, instead, creating one of her own. I'm anxiously awaiting her next book.

Like another reviewer, I just could't get into this one, although I tried repeatedly. The writing didn't flow for me, making the story difficult to follow, and I just didn't find the characters that interesting. Too many sterotypes as well. I finally gave up on trying to find out what Vera's Point is.

This delightful story is told as a series of flashbacks from the main protagonist's point of view. Kyle asks his Aunt Vera to tell him the story of life with her late lover Frankie Bourdon for his psychology assignment. Frankie was a former Navy pilot who came to teach PE at Vera's conservative high school and subsequently stirred the proverbial pot.

Vera spent most of her life feeling like the ugly duckling and had not had a lover for several years. When the enigmatic Frankie shows up at a gay alliance meeting, then again at Vera's school, Vera's friends push her to get to know the PE teacher better. The teachers and their friends get to know each other better and begin to discuss Frankie's plans to start teaching gay sex education in addition to her regular curriculum. Complicating matters is the fact that Frankie's ultra conservative mother is on the school board and is very much against her daughter's plans.

In the midst of the political turmoil, Vera is surprised about her growing feelings toward Frankie and the other woman's shared attraction. Their romance is a complicated one, made simple by the romantic Frankie. Their love is strong enough to last, but cannot defeat Mrs. Bourdon's conservative views. This is especially difficult during Frankie's lost struggle with cancer. (Note: This doesn't give anything away; Frankie's cancer is the subject of the first chapter.)

This book is extremely well written. The characters are somewhat dimensional (as in, there is more to them than specifically what is in the book) and the story is never boring. The author keeps the reader anxiously awaiting the events on the next page. The quality of this story is such that I hope Ruth Perkinson publishes another soon

I had to start this book three times before I was actually able to read it. Ms. Perkinson is a talented writer but disclosing key details within the first few pages ruined the story and left me with an unlikable main character, performing mundane tasks. Sadly this book just didn't work.

What an excellent first novel. Just when society thinks being gay is cool...here's a wake up call. the author makes us all keenly aware that simply loving another human being has risks that the majority of society doesn't face, let alone even know about. Like HB751. Perkinson draws the reader in using characters we can all relate to, yet forces us to think in new ways (dual destiny). A great read!