Homeschooling
By Carol Guess
2010
First Published
3.60
Average Rating
120
Number of Pages
"A hallmark of Carol Guess’s fiction has always been her haunted characters set adrift in a poignant landscape of lyrical prose. Homeschooling is no exception, where these hauntings are both literal and symbolic."Set in a suburb of Seattle next to the Nordic Heritage Museum, Eleanor tells us in the opening paragraph of the book, “the neighborhood was haunted by sea widows and girls whose Santa Lucia candles had set their yellow hair on fire.”"It is in this ethereal setting that we are plunged into the burgeoning relationship between the misanthropic lesbian artist and her conservative Christian neighbor, Laurel, who homeschools her six children. Eleanor finds herself intrigued by Laurel, an odd juxtaposition of good Christian wife and tomboy. Convinced Laurel is unhappy with her life choices, Eleanor becomes obsessed with saving her."What’s most compelling about the book are those metaphorical hauntings that permeate the women in this novel; love, liberty, an appendage. What we learn about these women from their own words, each in turn having their say, is minimal and must be intuited by their observations about other people or their reflections on their own histories."Reviewed by Michelle Beltano Curtis on the Lambda Literary Foundation website
Avg Rating
3.60
Number of Ratings
5
5 STARS
20%
4 STARS
40%
3 STARS
20%
2 STARS
20%
1 STARS
0%
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