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Reading Between The Lines
Reading Between The Lines or Who Sews the Sunshine Dress by Glynda Shaw, is a 70s coming of age story combining themes of gender, blindness, friendship and innovation.
Jeff McGowan, withdrawn adolescent, confused by a tendency to cross dress seeks acceptance and purpose in his small Northwest community. When Irene, a blind clothing designer advertises for a friend/helper, Jeff phones her, is mistaken as a girl and becomes Jennifer. The ruse is fraught with risk from the start, becoming increasingly convoluted, with the partial discovery of Jeff's secret by a hostile class mate. Jeff's teacher, his intellectual elder sister and even his Mom become involved. The surprise ending combines elements of rehabilitation, alternative technology and a gathering self awareness for Jennifer. The major characters gain new respect and appreciation for one another. An unique story for the bit of Jeff/Jennifer in all of us.
Jeff McGowan, withdrawn adolescent, confused by a tendency to cross dress seeks acceptance and purpose in his small Northwest community. When Irene, a blind clothing designer advertises for a friend/helper, Jeff phones her, is mistaken as a girl and becomes Jennifer. The ruse is fraught with risk from the start, becoming increasingly convoluted, with the partial discovery of Jeff's secret by a hostile class mate. Jeff's teacher, his intellectual elder sister and even his Mom become involved. The surprise ending combines elements of rehabilitation, alternative technology and a gathering self awareness for Jennifer. The major characters gain new respect and appreciation for one another. An unique story for the bit of Jeff/Jennifer in all of us.
101 pages, Paperback
Published March 13, 2014
1 person want to read
About the author
Glynda Shaw
10 books5 followersGlynda Shaw is a Seattle native, an aerospace engineer, a social worker, and an experimenter in alternative energy and biosystems.
"Currently for different reasons, I especially enjoy reading the novels of Patricia Cornwell, Tess Gerritsen, Mary Downing Hahn, Lisa Jackson, Lee Child, John Sandford, Lisa Unger. There are many others of course but those are the ones I drop everything to read when a new title appears.
Throughout my life I have enjoyed and respected Poul Anderson Isaac Asimov, A Bertram Chandler, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Howard Pyle, Mark Twain. More recently; Stephen Baxter, Bernard Cornwell, S. M. Stirling and of course always, Robert Louis Stevenson.
I also read a fair amount of history, technology and science. Charles Sheffield, Freeman Dyson and Gerrard K. O'Neil and probably my current favorite writers of speculative technology.
My writing influences are varied and include feminism, gender issues, the fact of my own blindness and cultural issues,including my Celtic background and a love of the Pacific Northwest and also of the American South. Most of my life a seem to have been a very small minority yelling about something or other and not always winning but generally remaining on my feet.
I try to root my stories in places I’ve been and can describe credibly. I’ve been known to take vacations places so I can get the setting right. I like to show my characters making independent decisions and creating lives that fit them even if not acceptable to all of their neighbors.
Those are the sorts of people I tend to like also; folks who know stuff and aren’t afraid to ask the questions “why not?” and “Why do things have to be this way?”
I like to champion things that are old but still good but also new things that are good but not just because they’re new and trendy. One of the most charming images I can think of, the author of which has been lost to my memory, was that of a young woman on a horse, surrounded by a force field actuated from the saddle; and she able to tesser from planet to planet, having extraordinary adventures."
"Currently for different reasons, I especially enjoy reading the novels of Patricia Cornwell, Tess Gerritsen, Mary Downing Hahn, Lisa Jackson, Lee Child, John Sandford, Lisa Unger. There are many others of course but those are the ones I drop everything to read when a new title appears.
Throughout my life I have enjoyed and respected Poul Anderson Isaac Asimov, A Bertram Chandler, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Howard Pyle, Mark Twain. More recently; Stephen Baxter, Bernard Cornwell, S. M. Stirling and of course always, Robert Louis Stevenson.
I also read a fair amount of history, technology and science. Charles Sheffield, Freeman Dyson and Gerrard K. O'Neil and probably my current favorite writers of speculative technology.
My writing influences are varied and include feminism, gender issues, the fact of my own blindness and cultural issues,including my Celtic background and a love of the Pacific Northwest and also of the American South. Most of my life a seem to have been a very small minority yelling about something or other and not always winning but generally remaining on my feet.
I try to root my stories in places I’ve been and can describe credibly. I’ve been known to take vacations places so I can get the setting right. I like to show my characters making independent decisions and creating lives that fit them even if not acceptable to all of their neighbors.
Those are the sorts of people I tend to like also; folks who know stuff and aren’t afraid to ask the questions “why not?” and “Why do things have to be this way?”
I like to champion things that are old but still good but also new things that are good but not just because they’re new and trendy. One of the most charming images I can think of, the author of which has been lost to my memory, was that of a young woman on a horse, surrounded by a force field actuated from the saddle; and she able to tesser from planet to planet, having extraordinary adventures."
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 21, 2016
How is it that I could have finished this book before it was even published? Because I helped edit it and read the tape version as well. It is written by a Bind author and as such the perspective is fascinating. You notice details that are often left out of other books.
That aside, the story is interesting as Jeff/Jennifer develops a friendship with a Blind woman in his neighborhood, at the same time as he's working on an important class project. It's a light read, and a quick one, yet well worth it. A hint: Everything in the cover painting is relevant!
That aside, the story is interesting as Jeff/Jennifer develops a friendship with a Blind woman in his neighborhood, at the same time as he's working on an important class project. It's a light read, and a quick one, yet well worth it. A hint: Everything in the cover painting is relevant!
Displaying 1 of 1 review