Alma Mater

Rating:
Summary: Certainly not one of her best, but a nice diversion
Review: I agree with the reviewer who referred to this novel as a 260-page coming-out novel. I also agree that it reads more like late 1990's lesbian relationship than 1980. For a more accurate picture of lesbian relationships and coming out in the early 80's, read Annie on My Mind, written during that time. Once you've read that novel, you will realize just how utopian and false this novel reads (for the time in which it is supposed to be set). I found it easier to get into the novel by just switching the time in my head. Brown does write an incredibly steamy sex scene or two, and the characters exude that Southern charm Brown writes so well. This novel does not rank among her best but was enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I love the Mrs. Murphy series, but Rita Mae Brown seems to flounder without the helping hand of Sneaky Pie. This book was just plain boring. There was a lot of supposedly "witty repartee" by Vic's family and friends that had nothing to do with the story and appeared to be in there just to show how cute they all were - I found myself starting to skim every conversation in the book. The "quirky" characters came across as demented and strange, and I got tired of all the emphasis on how beautiful Vic and Chris and various others were - I think this was supposed to be some political statement that not all lesbians are masculine and ugly, but she kept making this point over and over, and it got tiresome. Vic made more long, tedious speeches than a politician, and at times the book felt more like a lecture than a story, with some sex scenes thrown in that were also surprisingly dull, given how steamy they were - in fact, very little seemed to happen.
If this is your first Rita Mae Brown book, don't judge them all by this - the Mrs. Murphy series is a million times better.

Rating:
Summary: halarious grown up book
Review: Rita Mae Brown's latest book shares the story of Vic and Chris, two women who happen upon their attraction to each other. The women meet and become fast friends, and soon, they begin a love affair so explosive it shakes the very core of their sexualities.

The only problem is Vic already has a commitment to her BMOC boyfriend, Charly. As a modern Southern belle, her hand is practically promised to the well-to-do, handsome football player. Although Vic's heart quivers for Charly, it burns passionately for Chris. So what's a girl to do, especially when you are raised with a genteel upbringing? She spends the majority of the novel trying to understand her new feelings and how to break it to Charly.

And in the midst of her discovery is a cast of Southern eccentrics, who add a life to what could have been a dull take on lesbian love. There's her levelheaded parents, Frank and R. J., her bold Aunt Bunny, and her outrageous younger sister, Mignon. Intensifying the madcap is the Wallace family, who take the term "hillbilly" to another level.

The only thing that made the book tedious was Vic's wavering attitude toward ending her relationship with Charly. I kept wondering when she would finally bite the bullet and just be honest with everyone. Although it had a slow start, the book held my interest as I kept reading on. Thanks, Rita, for making me laugh and making me think.

Rating:
Summary: it's really a good'un
Review: RMB's best since "Six of One," though, as with every Rita Mae novel, there will be times when you want to throw it across the room in exasperation. This witty, sly, touching love story between college age women comes across as very familiar territory to those of us who've been reading the (now much of it published) Xena fanfic online for years and rumors are rife that this is indeed of the genre "uber." It's the first RMB novel I've hugely enjoyed in years. Also, if you enjoy this, the similar themed and very definitely uber online and published novel by L.J. Maas, "None So Blind" will also be to your liking. Not to mention S.X. Meagher's wonderful near Dickensian saga of modern S.F. (a distaff version to rival Maupin's "Tales of the City"), "I Found My Heart in San Francisco." Both concern the romances of college age women. The uber novels are some of the best writing by women for women that I've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Not her best, but not bad either
Review: Southern humor and outlandish characters is a stalwart trait of writing by Rita Mae Brown, and her latest offering, Alma Mater, doesn't stray far from it. Set on the campus of William & Mary College, it tells the tale of Victoria "Vic" Savedge, the statuesque beauty of an old-fashioned Virginia family, where life is lived according to tradition, and daughters "marry well." Vic's life is following her mother's plan perfectly until she meets Chris, the diminuitive blonde new to the college. This happenstance meeting turns Vic life upside down, has her questioning everything she has ever known to be true, and before long, finds herself madly in love with this beautiful woman. Once this passion is unleashed, it follows an unpredictable path guaranteed to upset the course of both their lives.

Compared to other Brown novels, Alma Mater doesn't quite live up to the enchanting and charming characters of say, Six of One, one of the most entertaining books I've ever read. But as a standalone novel without previous knowledge of Brown's other work, Alma Mater is an enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: This is truly the best book I have ever read! I could read it over and over again. It is like reading my life story in a book. Thank you Rita Mae Brown for the opportunity to read this wonderful novel.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!!!!!!!
Review: This is truly the best book I have ever read! I could read it over and over again. It is like reading my life story in a book. Thank you Rita Mae Brown for the opportunity to read this wonderful novel.

Rating:
Summary: From a Declared Heterosexual Female . . . ;-)
Review: With apologies to Rita Mae Brown, who is an accomplished writer, from a reader who most certainly is not: I liked some aspects of this book better than others.
Nobody I read "does" the southern family as well as she does, especially the loving, though usually tempestuous relationships between sisters. Her sense of humor is delightful -- she can be hilarious when making a serious point, which makes her message so much sweeter than preaching.
Brown is a woman's writer whose empathy is with her gender. However, in contrast to the rest of this amusing and well-told story, the Lesbian theme is handled somewhat ponderously and didactically. Gay men women, even today, may have a hard time being themselves, but I think that Lesbianism as a social issue has stopped being newsworthy or in need of defense. The book -- a very lighthearted one -- would not be the appropriate vehicle for socal comment, anyway. Brown does a grand job describing women relating to each other. Still, the sexual adventures of the Lesbian characters in this book are no more interesting (or amusing) than those of the heterosexual ones, and the book appears a bit lopsided in seeming to pretend to that.