SOME GIRLS

The author of Velocity (1988) lives up to the acclaim of her notable debut in a sultry second novel—a visceral, earthy portrait of 1980s New York City life as seen through the eyes of a New Mexican transplant. Sensing that life is bigger than the desert from which she hails, 23-year-old tabula rasa Claire takes $500 and moves into a tiny apartment in TriBeCa. She temps by day, returns home at night, and spends all of her spare time deeply inhaling the dirty, wondrous city. Alone and getting lonely, she meets neighbor Jade, who's as wild as Claire is innocent: Jade speaks many languages, wears few clothes, and never runs out of money. Claire is dazzled. The two become wine-drinking pals, then confidantes (their friendship briefly complicated by Claire's boyfriend Tommy's visit), and finally, one boozy, clubbing night, lovers. The awkward morning-after marks a relationship hiatus: Jade abruptly jets to Paris, Berlin, Tibet; Claire lands a permanent job at an environmental law firm. But she misses Jade and, in a bout of confused homesickness, returns to New Mexico to confirm that Tommy's not her guy and the desert's not her place. She and Jade converge in New York. Will they reconcile? Will Claire ever really know the secretive, seductive girl next door? The ending (incongruously abrupt and improbable) forces Claire to seize her fate. Up to then she had drifted aimlessly, wide-eyed at the vast space and liberty she'd discovered. Readers will be at home in McCloy's clean prose—always vibrant and sensual—and in the disarmingly fresh view she creates from unassuming Claire's perspective. Even New Yorkers will see New York for the first time. Youthful, downtown (and lesbian) content stunningly draped in polished, uptown style. (Quality Paperback Book Club selection)