IN A FAMILY WAY — reviewed by Lori L. Lake,
copyright. Reprinted
with permission.by Rochelle Hollander Schwab
Website
3617 Orlando Place
Alexandria, VA, 22305
19.95/$10.95
316 pgs
ISBN: 0964365006
| Janice and her partner, Sonya,
would like to have a child. Sonya has three grown kids, but she lost
them in a custody
battle when they were young, and after all these years, she is ready to
be
a parent again. The two women meet with two acquaintances, Keith and
Aaron,
a long-time gay couple, and after a variety of fits and starts and
concerns
from lawyer Aaron, Keith agrees to help out the two women by being a
sperm
donor for Janice. After the first try, little Heather, who is the
spittin’
image of her father, is conceived and born. Janice and Sonya are over
the
moon with joy. Of the four main characters in this book, only Aaron has a good relationship with his family. Janice’s mother has no understanding of her daughter’s lifestyle, and Sonya and Keith are exiled from their families. This has a major impact on the two couples when tragedy strikes. Suddenly, two of the characters are in a tug-of-war over Heather, and their families, the media, and the legal system are all embroiled in it, too. I liked the fact that both gays and lesbians were given equal time in this book, and I was delighted to see how Keith so very quickly came to love Heather in a fierce and protective manner all the more moving because of how unexpected it was to him. Not many books have focused on gay dads, but there are far more gay fathers out in the world than people realize. |
What is compelling about this
novel is
that the reader truly comes to understand that there are no easy
answers in
custody battles, especially when the laws are not only subjective and
imprecise,
but also anti-homosexual. The tension and conflict were marvelously
rendered.
Depending upon whose point-of-view I was seeing things from, I found
myself
understanding that person’s situation and being totally supportive of
him
or her. And then the perspective would change, and suddenly someone I
thought
was wrong came into focus as having valid claims and sympathetic
issues.
Everyone was right; everyone was wrong; and there were no easy answers. The novel has a satisfying resolution, albeit one that becomes apparent to the reader long before the battling litigating parties catch on. Still, it’s not a happy ending where everything is wrapped up by the last page. If these characters existed in real life, I know there would be pitfalls and future problems for them, but by the end of the story, I felt hope that little Heather would get the best of all worlds. This is a book for gays, lesbians, straights—for anyone interested in the ways that the law and prevailing attitudes have not kept pace with biology and all the possibilities of new family arrangements. It’s an ambitious book full of heart and hope, and I highly recommend it. |
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Author's Bio of Lori L. Lake
 Author Lori L. Lake lives in the Twin Cities area with
her partner of twenty-two years. She worked in government for almost
two decades and resigned last fall
in order to work full-time at writing, teaching, and reviewing. She is
an
avid reader, loves to sing, play guitar and banjo, and enjoys movies,
weightlifting,
and all the kids in her life. Lori worked at writing short stories for
over
a decade, only discovering her knack for writing novels in her 30s. It
took
her several years to find a publisher, and she continually advises
other
writers never to give up.Different Dress is Lori’s fourth novel. Ricochet in Time came first, then Gun Shy, which was the first book in the “Gun” series, and Under The Gun, the sequel to Gun Shy. Her fifth book, Stepping Out: Stories by Lori L. Lake will be published in early 2004. Lori is at work on her next three novels, a WWII story called Snow Moon Rising, a post-apocalyptic action adventure tentatively entitled Isolation 2020, and Missing Link, which is a coming out story about an 18-year-old high school basketball player. She hopes to start the third “Gun” book before too long as well as a mainstream mystery. In addition, she is currently under contract for a non-fiction “How To” book about promoting small press and independent books. She also teaches a writing course about Gay & Lesbian Fiction. Further information about Lori can be found at her website. |
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P5