mrcreed22

I love the book, even though I could find some flaws with the story, if only I wanted to, and even though I have to agree with other reviewers that the side characters of the book are seldom more than cardboard figures, and even though I'm not that much in love with the final act- see, I'm already all over it and make it sound like the worst read ever, but truth is that Nancy Garden draws her two lead characters with such warmth and realism that all these perceived flaws fall easily aside as we find ourselves more and more captured by Eliza and Annie and their growing love and affection for each other. As books go "Annie on my mind" certainly falls into the lower age spot, closer to teen fiction than YA. Even though there's some sex hinted at, it's all kept very gentle and free of any details. What's further, Nancy Garden didn't write a "lesbian novel" but rather a story about the emotional roller coaster drive that falling in love is when you are young. Sure, there's the topic of finding out that you are gay, and the questions arising from that within a society that is not always accepting of it, but she doesn't let her lead characters be defined by their sexuality, rather she gives us a real couple where each one has plans of her own for the future. She doesn't let her characters obsess with how society might judge their relationship and instead focuses on the important parts, the excitement of feeling close to one another, the confusions and pains that can accompany the gradual act of finding a mutual emotional language, the ultimate hope to manage to make it last and to grow comfortable with each other like an old pair of shoes. In short, it's a tale about two young people falling in love, and everything else is just happenstance, and this is what makes the book a really sweet, timeless read. So, if not for the whole story, at the very least for the romance part of it certainly goes what Eliza says in summary about her New York home: "Real, but sometimes beautiful." In addition let me add that I'm completely in love with this particular edition of the book, with its beautiful cover artwork that absolutely manages to capture the spirit of the novel, and the added interview with Nancy Garden that offers some insight into where the author came from when writing the book and so helps to give a different, a more differentiated understanding of it.

2022-11-14 16:29