From Publishers Weekly
The three sisters--Sterling, Roz and Quinn--whose letters constitute this compulsively readable yet often irritating novel, disclose more to the reader than to one another. Maturing in the volatile '60s and '70s, they grow and change remarkably but so credibly that they command respect even when their actions and attitudes are least sympathetic. To compensate for a marriage contracted out of notions of propriety and conformity, Sterling, the eldest, immerses herself in popular causes: spiritualism, consciousness-raising sessions with prisoners, abortion rights and, finally, feminism, which brings her circuitously back to her husband. When faced with the death of her lover and betrayal by his brother, Roz, who alone of the three gives herself unreservedly, founds a wildly successful escort service, based, it is implied, on indiscriminate coupling with her clients. Most problematic because of her ambition and dogmatism is Quinn, the youngest and a well-known investigative reporter, who marries a black lawyer and battles with her family for his right to be one of them. Heckler's ( A Fragile Peace ) theme--that the sisters' relationships are preserved by the white lies their differences force them to tell--adds a distinctive dimension to the narrative. Literary Guild and Dou ble day Book Club alternates.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Three sisters, close in age, embody the changing status of women and their mores in the turbulent decades of the 1960s and 1970s. Sterling, the eldest, marries first, not for love but because home and hearth are expected. Bearing four babies one after the other alters her views. Roz becomes pregnant by her soldier sweetheart just before he leaves for the war that kills him--and their child by her subsequent abortion. She compensates for these bitter losses by becoming rich and notorious from casual sex and a successful escort service. Quinn, the true family liberal, parlays college journalism into a career of investigative reportage so intense as to accidentally expose Roz's secrets. Their experiences, which illustrate contemporary women's issues, are told through easy-to-read letters to and from each other over a 17-year period. Recommended. Literary Guild alternate; Doubleday Book Club selection.
- Marion Hanscom, SUNY at Binghamton Lib.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Marion Hanscom, SUNY at Binghamton Lib.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
