First Resort

by Nanci Little

At twenty-five Jordan Bryant was a rising star on the LPGA tour. At forty, with those dreams a distant and painful memory, she is Director of Golf at Catawamteak, the grand resort on the coast of Maine. She maintains a clinical distance between herself and the guests…until she meets Gillian Benson.

Widowed and left wealthy by a husband “the whole town knew was an abusive, philandering bastard,” Gillian comes to Maine in search of a piece of summer and perhaps a summer of peace. Catawamteak’s acres of oceans and tides of sweet-mown grass open horizons as limitless as her newfound freedom.

First Resort explores the bonds of friendship and the growth of affection and love between women.

Genres: LGBT

323 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1998

Reviews

[M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate rating this book a 2. I really adored it, up until the end. the dialogue was fast and great to read, it felt like people actually talking. The two main characters were lovable and great. It was a story about healing after trauma, and finding love.

**spoilers ahead**

Only, not romantic love. At least, not between the characters you want it to be. You see, Gillie is straight, and Jordan is a lesbian. And though they love each other, and the book follows their growing relationship, and they eventually sleep together... Gillie maintains that she is straight. And she goes on to marry Jordan's uncle. Because Gillie doesn't love Jordan "like that", and Jordan's happy to remain a bachelor, and, honestly, that just gutted me. I honestly wish I'd known about that ending, because, for me, it destroyed this otherwise beautiful book for me. It made me cry, not in a good way. It feels like I got punched in the gut. "Don't worry. You can sleep with your lesbian best friend who loves you and still be straight!" If I'd known about the ending beforehand, I wouldn't have invested time and emotion into this book. Ouch.

[Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, I wouldn't have read this except that I like the author. I know little about golf and care even less, and this book includes some very detailed golf stuff. Like the author's other books, this is quite well written. Aside from the golf stuff, it's mostly about friendship and healing from trauma. The direction of the story and ending are kind of baffling. My least favorite of the three books by Nanci Little I've read, but still enjoyable.

[Dar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another touching and moving book by Nanci Little. This book explores depth of feeling and the reaching out to someone and where that can lead. A complex story, unveiling human emotion and character. I loved the book. And I am amazed of the depth of feeling and emotional insight the author is able to convey in her books - all the while creating very complex characters and an absolutely intriguing story.