Behind the Pine Curtain

by Gerri Hill

Paperback, 2006

Status

Available

Call number

FICT-L Hill

Genres

Publication

Bella Books (2006), Edition: 63493rd, 218 pages

Description

Jacqueline Keys was ostracized from her small hometown of Pine Springs, Texas when she was seventeen, sent away because she was gay. Her family was the largest employer in the county, owning Pine Springs Lumber, and her father was mayor of this small town. Her mother could not accept the fact that her only child was gay, could not tolerate the gossip about her family. So, with a hundred dollars in her pocket and a one-way bus ticket out of town, Jacqueline was told not to come back until she had come to her senses. And that included being prepared to marry the son of a business associate of the family. Fifteen years later-long after she'd hitch-hiked to Los Angeles, long after she'd worked nights to put herself through college, and long after she'd written her first bestseller, No Place For Family-Jacqueline is persuaded to go back to the tiny town of Pine Springs after her father's death. The quick trip she'd envisioned for the funeral turns into weeks as she learns her father's business is suddenly hers to manage. And she is also again face-to-face with the woman who, as a teen, had been Jackie's first crush. She and Kay had been inseparable as kids, and later as teens. They find themselves falling back into their old habits, and Jackie is soon fighting the same feelings she'd had when she was seventeen.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member JMarieM27
I absolutely loved this book. Usually, with lesbian novels, you have a choice between good writing and poor story or poor writing and good story. It is rare that you can find a book that has a good story AND is written well. Kudos to Gerri Hill on this book. The story was engaging, the romance was
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HOT, and I didn't have to struggle with making sense out of poor grammar. I loved the sexual tension between the main characters, and Gerri's writing makes you feel the emotions of the characters. Great book.
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LibraryThing member ehough75
Another good quick read for the beach.
LibraryThing member DanieXJ
Huh, ruralish Texas and lesbians. Whatever could go wrong there? Jackie Keys is a writer and lesbian who was thrown out of her parents' house, life and town when she was younger. But when her father dies she gives in and goes back to Pine Springs for his funeral.

She sees Kay Garland again after
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fifteen years. Kay was the best friend that Jackie had to leave behind when her parents threw her out.

The story from there wasn't surprising at all, though the end had me wondering for a moment.

It was the characters and their interactions that kept me reading. Especially the Garlands. Each of the Garland characters were so unique and they also fit together just as a real family would.

What was weird was that while Hill wrote the Garlands (as well as Jackie) with so much depth and sensitivity, when it came to the Keys family and family lawyer the characterizations seemed shallow and thin to me. They seemed to just be stereotypes that talked and I wish that their stories had been finished off a bit more.

But, that aside, it was a great book and an enjoyable read.
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Awards

Goldie Award (Romance — 2007)

Language

Original language

English

ISBN

1594930570 / 9781594930577

Rating

½ (35 ratings; 4)
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