A/K/A

by Ruthann Robson

An intricate and daring novel centered on the identities that two women create for themselves. Margaret Smyth is an escort for women who assumes different names and identities for each of her clients while struggling to finish law school to ensure your future. BJ, a soap opera actress under the name Jill Willis, has a melodramatic personal life that rivals that of the charater she plays on television. Initially strangers, as their identities begin to unravel, these two women are drawn--to each other and to salvation.

Genres: Fiction, Lesbian, Queer

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Ruthann Robson is Professor of Law & University Distinguished Professor. She is the author of Dressing Constitutionally: Hierarchy, Sexuality, and Democracy (2013), as well as the books Sappho Goes to Law School (1998); Gay Men, Lesbians, and the Law (1996); and Lesbian (Out)Law: Survival Under the Rule of Law (1992), and the editor of the three volume set, International Library of Essays in Sexuality & Law (2011). She is a frequent commentator on constitutional and sexuality issues and the co-editor of the Constitutional Law Professors Blog. She is one of the 26 professors selected for inclusion in What the Best Law Teachers Do (Harvard University Press, 2013).

Reviews

[Jenny Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. It’s a great read, with riveting characters and a compelling plot. It’s dramatic, occasionally a little over the top, but it somehow still feels believable. We’ve all met many of these characters. There are lots of references to lesbian community but it never seems provincial. It’s set in NYC, with the stories of the two protagonists told separately. Most of it is written in the first person, through one of the two women, but at the beginning and the end, the camera pans away and we can be more objective. A third woman – a happily married and well-adjusted lesbian – acts as a fulcrum for the other two. This novel also has one of the most unique endings I’ve ever happened across in a love story.