One Belief Away

Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing! Nothing like I expected.
Review: I keep hoping that something will reach out and grip me in this book. I found that the characters do not have any personal charisma. The character development in this book is unsatisfying superficial, as is the story itself. Although I don't mind the occasional lesbian quasi-erotic pulp, the writing is just absolutely not what I expected from Winters. I never witnessed the author's understanding of what the plot should be, nor the human relationships and feelings she was obviously hoping to express. I was truly disappointed in this book.

Rating:
Summary: You have to be a certain age
Review: If I was a young lesbian, just coming into my own today, I might not understand this book. Just like I'm not sure that a young woman today can really understand what's going on in the recent Julia Roberts movie, "Mona Lisa Smile", about women in the 1950s. Sometimes you just have to have lived through something to "get" it. As someone who was first discovering her lesbianism during the period this book is set in, I understand the forces tugging on Carol and the decision she has to make. If anything, I think Winters made the decision too easy. It sure wasn't as readily accepted as this book would indicate, especially in a period when women were just winning some positions in society where "deviant" attitudes would not be tolerated. Many of us who wanted to make a difference were forced by circumstances to adopt attitudes and behaviors that kept us closeted for many years to come. The book captures some of that, but you have to understand it's historical context to fully feel what is going on. If you're a younger lesbian today and you want to understand why some of the older women you meet act like they do, read this book.

Rating:
Summary: The Queen of the Tease strikes again!
Review: One Belief Away is the second book by CN Winters I have read (Irrefutable Evidence was the first) and I can safely say she's got a fan for life. I was an impressionable young girl growing up in New York City at the time this story takes place and she managed to bring back all the memories of that time...especially the incredible tension between the Establishment and the Counter Culture. CN manages to bring two radically different women together despite the pressure each of them are under. And when they finally do get together, they must battle their own inner demons until in the end they both realize that the only thing that matters in the world is love.