THE MICROCOSM

by Maureen Duffy ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 4, 1966

The literature of lesbianism has certainly been minimal in contrast with the number of novels dealing with male homosexuality in the last few years, and what has appeared has usually dealt with the situation in primarily interpersonal terms. This novel, which opens and closes at a London club for the gay girls, is an expository, explicit, communal, interior view; while it occasionally refers to the state as a ""common darkness and loneliness,"" it never indulges in regret; and through Matt, a butch boy, who usurps control of the book, it adaptively attempts to find ""a system, a scheme that'll fit it all in."" The novel is handled in alternating episodes in the first person of Steve, who teaches school; Sadie and his/her Jonnie-- they've been together four years; Cathy who runs away to London to find someone who is like her, takes a job as a bus conductor (these girls prefer uniforms-- gas station attendants- army- etc.); Marie who tells her story in the freeform of total disassociation-- ""sick o i am sic... wordslip wordshift""; and a number of others who are ""butch or femme or just a little in-between."" Miss Duffy's book, which is written with a good deal of technical competence, is unequivocal; as Matt says, ""We're part of society, part of the world whether we or society like it or not.

Pub Date: March 4, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1966

Categories: FICTION