Nora and Liz

by Nancy Garden

On the long drive to her family’s summer cottage Liz Hardy was dreading the cobwebs, dust, and memories that surely awaited her after five uninhabited years. She knew there was no reason to put it off any longer now that both of her parents were gone. It was time to sell the rustic old place and nothing would ever be the same for her again.

Nora Tillot gazed out the window at her thriving garden and then across the kitchen to her failing parents. Today. Yesterday. Tomorrow. All the same she thought. But looking at her mother, Nora smiled radiantly, took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and went to help her father with his lunch.

One Journey . . .

When her rental car has a flat tire Liz reluctantly stops at the old Tillot farm to borrow a jack. Walking out to the barn together the two women unknowingly take the first steps on a path that will change both of their lives forever. But when their tender friendship turns passionate, Nora and Liz’ s happiness is shattered by accusations and rumors. Trying desperately to rise above the tumult, they silently wonder if their love can survive . . .

Genres: LGBT, Lesbian, Fiction, Lesbian Fiction, Romance, Queer, Gay

220 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2002

About the author

A versatile writer, Nancy Garden has published books for children as well as for teens, nonfiction as well as fiction. But her novel Annie on My Mind, the story of two high school girls who fall in love with each other, has brought her more attention than she wanted when it was burned in front of the Kansas City School Board building in 1993 and banned from school library shelves in Olathe, Kansas, as well as other school districts. A group of high school students and their parents in Olathe had to sue the school board in federal district court in order to get the book back on the library shelves. Today the book is as controversial as ever, in spite of its being viewed by many as one of the most important books written for teens in the past forty years. In 2003 the American Library Association gave the Margaret A. Edwards Award to Nancy Garden for lifetime achievement.

In Remembrance: Nancy Garden

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got epic sunburned today and I blame this book. I've been missing the sun so much (having lived in Wales for the past two years) that I thought it would be SUCH a lovely idea to sit outside on a picnic blanket and read all afternoon!

And now my poor shoulders are bright red and all hurty :(

But this book, oh my god this book. I absolutely loved it!! The story of Nora and Liz was just gorgeous, and I was seriously impressed that there was, for once, no gratuitous sex - which I do NOT care for and which is I guess why I prefer YA novels. It's hard to find grown-up lesbian novels that don't suddenly go into four pages of soft-core porn in the middle, so this was an insanely pleasant surprise. Perhaps because Nancy Garden is more of a YA writer? I don't know, but whatever, I like it. There was sex, of course, but it was wonderfully off-screen. There was no unnecessary blow-by-blow account, just several lovely fade-to-blacks.

Liz was out already - well, more or less! - from the start of the novel, so there was no great revelation there. But the story showed an awakening for Nora, and that was so lovely to read... no huge OMG BUT SHE'S A GIRL drama, it was just so natural and easy and lovely. When they finally kissed - over halfway through the book, I think! - I actually felt a little shiver of delight :) The UST throughout the first half isn't overwhelming, but it's such a constant, building presence. The first half of the book is very quietly paced and I enjoyed that. It's such an easy, cosy, comfortable read. Well, for the most part!

Liz is a city slicker, who's gone to the country to clear out her family's summer cabin since her parents have both died. On the way there she gets a flat tyre, and stops in at Nora's family's place to borrow a jack.

Nora lives alone with her elderly parents, and is their sole caretaker. Her mother has had several strokes and is losing her memory, and her father is basically a cantankerous old bastard who you will want to punch several (thousand) times for the way he treats Nora. She's totally his slave. He's also seemingly stuck in the distant past: their place has no running water or electricity, no indoor plumbing, absolutely no modern conveniences. No fridge (they use an old ice-box), no phone, certainly no computer. Reading the book, you get the idea that it's perhaps set in about the 60s until Liz mentions things like email. Then she mentions this being the twenty-first century and... wow. The way Nora lives is just unimaginable in this day and age! But what's even worse is the way her father stands against every little attempt at progress. He refuses to let her buy meat in bulk and freeze some at the nice lady from church's house, who drives Nora to the shops once a week. Because he won't let Nora drive. When she finally stands up to him and gets a phone installed, he pitches an absolute fit. When Nora is an hour longer than usual on her shopping day (which she'd told him about), he pitches an even larger fit. Nora is forty years old and her father treats her like a small child, and it's just horrible. The tragic thing is how it often IS much easier for her to just go along with what he says and obey him. It's absolutely heartbreaking. And even worse when you find that he's not against new-fangled contraptions because he's against progress, but because if he keeps the house all old-fashioned and crappy then no one will want to buy it, and thus give Nora any ideas about leaving and bettering her life.

Liz is the first real friend Nora's had since she was in high school. (Where she was never allowed to date, to go to friends' places, to do anything.) And her father hates this, because suddenly Nora, against all of his best efforts, does have an interest outside of the house. He tries to stop Nora from seeing Liz and having some fun, but for once she stands up to him, even if she often pays for it later.

Then Nora's mother dies, while Liz is visiting, and Nora's father gets over his hatred of the phone long enough to call 911 and report that Liz has murdered his wife. Oh my god! And this is all immediately after they've finally kissed... of course it's clear that Nora's mother died of a stroke, and that her father is just a hate-filled, jealous old man who will do anything to stop his daughter from being "stolen away", but the gossip gets out into the small town and while no one really believes it, because they all know how old and sick Nora's mother was, and how horrible her father is, it still gives them something to talk about. And Liz may have had her childhood summers there, but she's still an outsider, and a little bit strange, and Not One of Them.

Amazingly, no one leaps onto the dyke angle. The drama and gossip isn't to do with their relationship at all, unlike what the blurb makes out! It's not until the epilogue, where Nora and Liz are living together, that anyone even mentions it... the funny part being that they gossip about Liz possibly being gay, but mention nothing of Nora. They just assume that the two are living together like spinsters, and ohnoes poor young Nora might get corrupted. LOL. And the person who says this is shot down in any case, and that's it.

Overall, I really loved this. Definitely a favourite, and I wonder if I can find my own copy one day :D

[Tatiellen Tarzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I read by Nancy Garden and I'm totally in love with her ability to make everything so poetical and delicate. I loved Liz and was sorry for Nora. I couldn't stop myself of hating Roy and Nora's father. This story is sensitive and amazing, but I still prefer Annie on My Mind.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liz is from NYC and goes to her family's summer cottage in Rhode Island. Befriends Nora who takes care of her aging and ill parents in their almost-unchanged 18th century farmhouse.

I like this story, and their friendship, but I wasn't expecting the dark turn.

And it was really hard for me to believe how in the 21 century a forty-year-old woman would be under her father's thumb so much. Sure, I can buy the no electricity or running water thing, barely. But not learning to drive because her father's says so, and not because it's her own choice? Okay, she doesn't drive. What about a bicycle to go to town? Taking a bus to nearby cities? How did she get her proofreading job? Did she not go to college?

It was just such an odd story.

[Debra Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

From description found on amazon.....

When her rental car has a flat tire, Liz Hardy stops at the old Tillot farm to borrow a car jack. Nora Tillot gladly walks Liz to the barn and as they search for the jack, the two women begin a journey neither anticipated. As the tender friendship turns passionate, Nora and Liz`s happiness is shattered by accusations and rumors. Trying desperately to rise above the tumult, they silently wonder if their love can survive . . .

I have to say, the people that gave one and two stars because the book has no "sex scenes" cannot be true readers of lesbian fiction. Giving a book a low rating based on that alone is in my opinion, idiotic and dispicable. I found the "coming out" that Nora experiences from the life she was living and the falling in love of these two women amazing. 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for sure.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book caused me anxiety. Not the real one with panic attacks and the need for medication, no, just the kind that gives you when you are exaggerating a little bit about how something makes you uncomfortable, like a strange feeling, like bad goosebumps? It's well written, but abusive old parents it's really a nightmare scenario.

Also, I'm not sure how Liz went from "I really don't feel like commitment,, but I'm still thinking about Megan" to "I'm in love with her and I'll do whatever it takes to be with her" in the lapse of maybe 3 weeks?

[Sophia Barsuhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I read a Nancy Garden book, I always get a little sad at how every woman has to check to make sure that no one else is around before they kiss their partner, or do anything remotely gay. The message is, "Be yourself, but be afraid." I can't imagine being like that with my girlfriend.

[Liv B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Similar to Annie on My Mind, but different as well! Liz and Nora are polar opposites, but that’s what draws them into each other. Liz, a biker, from the city, doesn’t like staying in one place for too long, befriends a homebody Nora, whose family life is rough to explain, but she pulls her weight for her community and when it comes to her family, she’s very close to them. So close that she has to choose between Liz and her hometown life. There’s many comments on here that make this book sound boring, but it’s not.. in fact, it’s real. It’s older women, finding themselves in the now, and discovering that their love is very impactful to each other. Does Liz and Nora come together in the end? Read to find out! Another one of Nancy Gardens gems.

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange and a bit too far-fetched to swallow for a story set in the 21st century. Come on, like anyone could really still do a correspondence course or proofreading by hand? A woodburning stove to cook on? Even the Amish aren't that backward. The writing was okay....decent enough that I would give another of the author's books a shot before making a final call on whether I can read her books or not.

[Julie]

Don't remember.

[Tinker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy Garden (1938) on amerikkalainen kirjailija, joka on kirjoittanut enimmäkseen lasten ja nuorten romaaneja. Nora ja Liz on hänen ensimmäinen aikuisille suunnattu romaaninsa.

Nora Tillot asuu ikääntyneiden vanhempiensa kanssa rapistuvalla farmilla, vailla sähköä, puhelinta tai viemäröintiä. Vuodesta toiseen Noran elämä on keskittynyt kodin ja vanhempien hoitamiseen. Pois talosta hän pääsee vain käydäkseen kaupassa tai kirkossa. Noran elämä alkaa muuttua, kun hän tapaa Liz Hardyn, New Yorkilaisen opettajan, joka saapuu perheensä kesäasunnolle usean vuoden poissaolon jälkeen. Vaikka Liz on jo lapsena viettänyt kesiä paikkakunnalla, eivät naiset ole tavanneet aiemmin. Naiset ystävystyessä ja myöhemmin rakastuessa alkaa Noran elämänpiiri laajentua ja hän saa rohkeutta puolustaa itseään ja uskaltaa toteuttaa omia toiveitaan vastoin hankalan ja hallitsevan isänsä tahtoa.

Noran äidin kuolema saa hänen yhä vainoharhaisemmaksi muuttuneemman isänsä esittämään järjettömiä syytöksiä, jotka levittävät juoruja pikkukylässä. Vaikeat olosuhteen koettelevat Noran ja Lizin suhdetta. Lisäksi on heidän mietittävä, mitä haluavat suhteelta ja elämältä. Lizin elämä on New Yorkissa ja Nora rakastaa maalaiselämäänsä kuuluvaa hiljaisuutta ja yksinkertaisuutta.

Kirja on kauniisti kirjoitettu ja henkilöhahmot samaistuttavia ja hyvin rakennettuja. Huolimatta siitä, että molemmat päähenkilöt ovat nelissäkymmenissä, kirjassa on hiukan nuorten kirjan tuntua ja kirja sopisikin yhtä hyvin nuorille kuin aikuisillekin. Pidin kovasti kirjasta.