Southbound: The Sequel to Faultline

by Sheila Ortiz Taylor

Book by Sheila Ortiz Taylor

Genres: Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1990

Reviews

[Frank]

Entertaining novel about a lesbian graduate student majoring in poetry at UCLA who is forced to graduate and find a job. In the vein of Rita Mae Brown, although I suspect some of this may be crypto-autobiographical. Taylor shows a bit of a double-standard in the way she criticizes a middleaged man (the fool/villain) for courting a younger woman, but enthuses over a middleaged woman (the heroine) courting an older woman. But this is the author’s prerogative. This is a novel of the heart, not the cerebrum. Good airplane fare when you’re tired of the serious stuff.

[GGG · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is sequel to one of my favorite novels - it was interesting and a decent way to pass a day but did not have the joyful rhythm of the first book. The first (Faultline) also felt an immersion into a particular place and time and flavor of LGB history (notably, it was quite contemporary when I first read it!) - but south kind felt more personal and less charming. Nonetheless, I did enjoy it and am now turning to another Sheila Ortiz Taylor book to read on the beach...