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Lilac Mines
Summary
Felix Ketay, a 25-year-old Los Angeles dyke, has her foundations shaken when she’s ditched by her pomosexual girlfriend and then gay-bashed on the streets of West Hollywood.
Felix’s old-school lesbian aunt, Anna Lisa Hill, ran away from home in 1965 at age 19 and ended up in Lilac Mines, a small town in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills with a small but tight-knit butch/femme community.
When Felix joins her aunt in Lilac Mines hoping to discover a place of respite, Anna Lisa proves stand-offish, so Felix devotes herself to investigating the town’s 100-year-old mystery: the disappearance of 16-year-old Lilac Ambrose in the mine shafts that run beneath the mountain.
Felix learns that finding an authentic history is never easy, but Lilac Mines - with its abandoned mines, unknowable secrets, and the occasional quirky-cute thrift store employee - might not be such a bad place to try.
About the author: Cheryl Klein is a shameless Angeleno, quiet pescatarian, and shameful tabloid reader. She lives in Los Angeles where she is West Coast director of Poets & Writers, Inc.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Karen
- 28-05-13
A 3.5 read...........
This was an interesting listen which kept me engaged through out a bank holiday weekend. I particularly liked the parallel stories in this book, one taking place way back in the past, one in the 1970's and the final 'story' a present day plot.
We are all shaped by the time we come from and the norms and mores of that time shape our choices, freedoms and ultimately the lives we lead. Particularly through the stories of an aunt and her niece we see how different their lives and choices have been, yet ultimately we are reminded that people are people and not so different after all. If I could have awarded an extra .5 to make this a 3.5 choice I would have done.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Dandylion
- 06-10-13
Flash Back
This unsatisfying tale is told in mostly flash backs as three generations of lesbian lovers is explored ,the story telling itself is poetic and beautiful at times ,and maybe that's enough to recommend this book .Good narration, good story of old values and young enthusiasm,the disappointing thing was that it ends with a wimpier not a bang.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Susie
- 14-03-13
A Little History, A Little Mystery, and Romance
Cheryl Klein's delicious novel about three generations of lesbian women in California combines a little history, a little mystery, and a little romance.
This book opens like a million before it—somebody gets dumped. Escaping a crushing breakup with her girlfriend and a sexual assault, Felix leaves L.A. to stay with her aunt in a small town called Lilac Mines.
From there, the narrative switches between the present day and the 1960s. There is a tension between Felix and her aunt. Will we find the clues in her aunt’s past to why she is treating Felix so gruffly?
I loved the small-town lesbian history and stories—I completely forgot that this book is fiction—Lilac Mines feels like such a real place.
3 people found this helpful