TRESPASSING

by Valerie Miner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 20, 1989

Though a number of these 17 stories (including a novella and several fragments) are marred by flatness or an intrusive feminist ideology, the best capture the ambiguous ebb and flow of contemporary relationships in transit or disarray. ""Transfer,"" the novella, effectively traces the stages in a young woman's coming-of-age by focusing on the rise and fall of her friendship with Marlin, an older man who begins as family friend and ends as rejected would-be lover: Martin marries, the narrator does the same and then divorces, her father leaves her mother, the narrator becomes a feminist, and so on--each evocative instance another piece of the complex puzzle. Of the stories, ""The Giants Haven't Won a Pennant Since '62""--two American women in Morocco befriend Willie, a native boy in love with baseball--deepens when American Mike arrives: the women decide he's Willie's father and try to protect the boy. In the best pieces, Miner manages to give full sympathy to characters of both genders or to limit her canvas. ""Guest of Honour"" is a touching portrait of a feminist poet who gives a restaurant reading for a local writers' group--the story deftly skirts with, but avoids, condescension to the locals. Other pieces--the title story, ""Dropping Anchor,"" ""Objectivity, She Said,"" ""All Those Dead Horses""--are vivid but too obviously slanted by ideology to work completely for a general audience. Of the several fragments and sketches, the best is ""You Remember Sophia'--in which a Greek woman (who became a doctor and decided to stay in America) returns to Greece for a visit and manages to find an image of her earlier identity. Miner (All Good Women, Winter's Edge, Blood Sisters) has a specialized feminist vision that will speak most persuasively to fellow travelers.

Pub Date: Sept. 20, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crossing Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1989

Categories: FICTION