Egret: Second Edition

by Helen Collins

Egret vividly evokes the tumultuous art scene and "illegal" gay world of New York in the 1980's. It's the story of a young artist, Jodi Marquette, a shy, proud and idealistic Midwesterner, but very inexperienced, very talented and very poor. She comes to Manhattan's male-dominated art milieu seeking to establish herself with her beautiful and haunting images of birds and the natural environment. As she is drawn from the chic galleries and hidden lesbian bars of Manhattan to exclusive private parties in elegant beach houses of the Hamptons, she is awed but masks her insecurities. And almost everywhere, she encounters Morgan Smith, a beautiful, older, and seemingly inscrutable woman and the powerful owner of a prestigious art gallery. For Jodi, each encounter feeds a conflicting jumble of emotions --humiliation, helplessness, anger and raw physical passion.

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[SussexCat]

I feel like I'm on the summer streets of Manhattan and the blustering sand hills of the Hamptons.
I like being in the art houses and the bars...in the west side apartments ...on stair wells and on beaches but... ultimately.. I'm all about these two beautifully flawed lovers.
I love their tension and the chemistry and heat they generate.
All the other characters fall away ..awful..dull..silly... as they are written.

[dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite romantic. I was about to give this book a 4 but, my god, the narrator is insufferable. I hadn't been so annoyed with a character since the nameless second Mrs. de Winter, but whereas she is merely pathetic, Egret's narrator, Jodi, is uptight and righteous. And I think my frustration stems from the fact that I see traces of my own conservatism and naivete in her. Still, if not for the prose I would have dropped this book completely very early on. Luckily, Collins' writing is clean and elegant-- sensual when needed. The narrator gets a little more tolerable at the end-- all the characters do-- though I suspect this artsy upper class milieu will always keep me at a distance. Lovely story though.

[Ulla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a rare story!

[jennspoint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, engaging story. The characters were very well developed, and interesting. Very intriguing read.