OUR LADY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD

The lives of four women intersect in Southern California in Roether’s (Reflections on Color, 1982) thought-provoking novel.

Six months have passed in West Hollywood without heavy rain. Therapist Ginger lives with Nora, who co-writes with restaurateur Dan, hoping to sell a screenplay. While driving, Ginger and Nora notice two young women who appear to be prostitutes. Eager to help, Ginger invites the girls, Jennifer and Michelle, to come home with her, and they quickly accept. Ginger hopes to help the pair become empowered, but “always getting upset about things that happened to other people,” she’s prone to parsing. Nora is hesitant to emotionally connect, while Michelle is a follower relying on Jennifer, who is bright and at times sarcastic; the girls easily connect with Ginger’s neighbor March, who reads palms. When a mystical event occurs on March’s property, Michelle and Jennifer are thrust into the limelight. The church urges people to pray, and Jennifer miraculously survives an accident. Agents are calling because “the story strikes a chord with people,” but Michelle and Jennifer seem genuinely touched by the visitation from “Our Lady of West Hollywood.” The four women are strongly delineated characters, and entertainment professionals are portrayed in a nonstereotypical manner. One can’t help but empathize with people so self-consciously aware of image, to the point of altering their physicality to appeal to the masses. Jennifer tellingly observes of her Native American friend: “[M]en like Floyd couldn’t live in this city,” though she herself loves Los Angeles. (Quotation marks are randomly missing from the text, as are transitions for changes of scene, but the meaning shines through.) Humor is often understated: For instance, to attract a producer, Nora and Dan knock themselves out on a script, yet two ingénues have a vision, and bam, they’re famous. One central character has a surprising spiritual arc, finding peace by embracing the present moment—seemingly impossible to achieve when the camera is running. There might be something sacred in the City of Angels after all.

Well-told tale of a supernatural occurrence that unfolds with unexpected reverence as four determined women make different choices in image-obsessed Hollywood.