An Emergence Of Green

by Katherine V. Forrest

An unplanned encounter between Los Angeles trophy wife Carolyn Blake and her new neighbor--tall, blond and athletic artist Val Hunter--leads lo a close friendship and deepening emotions that young Carolyn has never known. Suddenly, Carolyn's carefully manicured domestic life seems contrived and much less colorful. And her husband's love for her seems contrived and condescending, as if it's not the real Carolyn he loves at all. His tenderness turns to rage, caresses to blows.

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

230 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Katherine V. Forrest is a Canadian-born American writer, best known for her novels about lesbian police detective Kate Delafield. Her books have won and been finalists for Lambda Literary Award twelve times, as well as other awards. She has been referred to by some "a founding mother of lesbian fiction writing."

Reviews

[Baxter Clare Trautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic. One of the first books I read when I came out in...'86, '87? Can't even remember now, but I do know that this was one of the better books available at the time.

[Bookish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't begin to describe how much I love this author and her work. Trully a classic.

[Tony Hisgett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I should have read thirty years ago as I suspect it would have had more impact then. The story is a domestic drama about a marriage falling apart and a repressed wife finding herself.
In the end the husband Paul is the ‘villain’, but there are moments when given his background you can have a bit of sympathy for him, as he can’t understand why he is losing his wife. However, as the story progresses his true sociopathic controlling nature emerges and he becomes the main ‘bad guy’.
The connection between Carolyn and Val is interesting, but apart from the sex, I didn’t think the author really developed their relationship and at the end of the book I was left feeling there should have been more.

[Anne Hartley Pfohl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book is like finding and old friend. Coming out in the late 1970's, early 1980's wasn't easy. Things were different back then and it was hard to find positive representations and happy endings for gals like us. The book's tone is very lesbian feminist (representative of the times, "the personal is political"), has some all-too-easy villains, and is a bit two dimensional in places. Still, there is more depth and nuance to the story than in many other books from the era. This book, and Curious Wine, were each important books in the lesbian literary canon. Thank you Katherine V. Forrest. This story was an oasis for a baby dyke back in 1984 who needed to hear it was all going to be okay, and it would be good, and beautiful, and right. Amen.

[Dide · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Curious Wine, I knew immediately this writer will be one of my appreciated. Reading An Emergence Of Green is indeed slightly different as the writer indicated...bringing in the Husband's perspective highlights an often muted character perspective.
Ownership is a major obstacle in my opinion both in relationships and moreso in marriages. Unfortunately, some have to meander through various relationships and possibly marriages before identifying first themselves and who they are meant to be with. This book did a job on showing that perspective and in addition, show us the dangers inherent.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this very much. I can find something to enjoy in all old gay books, though.

This time it’s how much this feels like a direct homage, an update, to the lesbian pulps, and specifically Ann Bannon. It’s a satisfying diptych, to hold them side by side. What’s the same, in the way a very similar story is told, with 20 years of gay life in between? What’s different?

The perspective shifts between 3 characters, one of them a man you wish you didn’t have to spend so much time with, are the same. The progress of the lesbian relationship is actually slower in this one than in Odd Girl Out or Stranger in Lesbos, the two I’ve read that this remind me of most. Once the sex happens, it’s much more explicit and much less fucked up, and some of it very hot in my book, although the language is a bit dated at this point.

The marriage feels like a 1960s marriage, but the gay world is a lot less depressing to come out into. The main character, Carolyn, is as lightly characterized as Laura Landon, so unfortunately no change there. And marital rape as the climax of the plot is unfortunately preserved as well.

But all in all, a fitting homage, and I would imagine one that served much the same purpose for lesbians looking for representation and stories they could recognize.

[Nyki Mancera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first…

This was my introduction into lesbian fiction and it was the best first welcoming into a genre that I love. Although I am not a lesbian, it helped me with my feelings for women. I am bisexual. The love affair between Carolyn and Val is how it happened to me. A friend that opened up her feelings to me, it how it all began. It helped me make sense of all those confusing feelings I had about girls/women since I was about 11 years old. This story also mirrors my marriage to a man. It shocked me how the author captured what goes through a man’s mind such as Paul. I had one of those and they can be quite brutal. My life paralleled Carolyn’s in the same way. I still dated men afterwards. But I knew year by year that was changing until I no longer dated men. What I was looking for, in completeness, I found could only come from another woman. This book shows just how a woman can get under your skin. It changes everything and everyone. I am so much happier in life with that ultimate change. Am I still attracted to men? Yes. But do I have any romantic interest? No. Do I have any sexual interest? Not at all.

[Claude K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book definitely is not the serene, pleasantly building romantic tension of Forrest’s most iconic novel, “Curious Wine”. Instead, “An Emergence of Green” hurts, often. It’s angering, mostly because of the power Paul Blake wields over Carolyn Blake, his wife, as well as Val Hunter, a character he meets only once before hating her and isn’t related to in anyway. His power is wielded carefully throughout the story, until it bursts like the reader can painfully anticipate the entire time. The relationship between Val & Carolyn is lovely and ultimately prevailing, but the constant theme weaving through the story is the struggle of Paul’s inner struggles and how he uses them to justify his abhorrent power. I would have perhaps been more invited by this book had the author focused more on the relationship between Val & Carolyn, more of the inner world of Carolyn, and less on the sociopathy of Paul Blake, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t a realistic exploration of the true darkness of toxic masculinity.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was well written.
Personal note: I have issues with books where the husbands are made out to be evil when the book is supposed to be a romance novel. I can't really enjoy the love story when I'm just really hoping that he doesn't hurt her. Yes, I know these things happen in life but I was just looking for a nice easy read and there was a lot of anger and hatred in this book. There are also some trigger warnings if this is an issue for anyone.

[Ms Mary E Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Green a beautiful colour, offering pastoral peace

As always it started with a swimming pool! The story follows the lives of two women who find each other. One already married to a man pays a price for that 'mistake'. Then throwing of the shackles, life becomes bearable & full of compassion & love with the support of so many women. A story we could all tell but not as well as this...

[RJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suppose if I’d read this before Curious Wine, I may feel differently. However, that’s not the case. I enjoyed the story, the chemistry, the beauty in that moment of exact rightness some of us experience when we reject the norm to instead delve into those terrifying, deep waters of the unknown........... but the husband? Oof. So much Paul Blake content. A truly wonderful job of turning him into a monster. I hated him. But I could have done without so much of his insight and so much about him.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 100 pages or so, I enjoyed getting to know the characters. It lost me a little when Paul Blake started becoming a classic toxic male, almost to the point of cheesy. There were nuggets of exciting moments but it seems a little outdated for the 2020 thirty something crowd.

[Lissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broke me

Loved it.this book tore me to pieces. I'm moving on to more by this author. Loved the women and the hope.

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating she/she/he said of a marriage falling apart and falling in love.

[sharman Holt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart wrenching

From beginning to end my heart felt raw and exposed. The detail in character description and thoughts were so descriptive, I felt the story.

[Lorraine Rusnack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book I got when it first came out and have read several times. It’s one of the classics.

[Sarah Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot has changed since this was written, thankfully.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully written book about coming in to your own sexuality back in the 80's.

[Zara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hehehehe I love women, this couple was so cuteeee - seeing things from the husband's POV was interesting too. It be like that - read it. I loved the book :)

[Maia Haiduc-Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

i am unwell why was this book perfect

[Freyja Vanadis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book almost 20 years ago, and I used to love it. Even though the situation between Carolyn, Val and Paul never happened to me, I could relate to the women and their coming-out process. But now that I've had a girlfriend who cheated on me, and I've experienced the utter devastation and heartbreak that goes along with it, my feelings about this book have completely changed. I have nothing but sympathy for Paul, and nothing but contempt for his wife Carolyn for cheating on him and rubbing it in his face, even before she and Val's relationship turned sexual. I have zero tolerance for infidelity, whether straight or gay. So many gays and lesbians make excuses for that kind of behavior because they're "following their heart" or "being true to themselves". Yeah well, get out of your existing relationship/marriage first and THEN you can follow your heart. I lost a huge amount of respect for Ms. Forrest, reading this book this time. Also, I'm so sick of how she portrays most of the men in her books as villains. Her hatred for men is so glaringly obvious, it's laughable. The way she wrote Paul's character is so unrealistic and so cartoonish, it makes me wonder if she actually knows any men in real life. The rape scene, while horrific, was also a little silly in a few places. Where Paul thought he would make her "feel him" inside her? Give me a break. That was just dumb.
Sorry, but Forrest is slipping from the top spot of my list of favorite lesbian authors.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Emergence of Green is an excellent romance novel - well-written, moving, and with a compelling (if not entirely convincing) plot. Carolyn Blake, a young woman stifled by a possessive husband, strikes up an unlikely friendship with the artist Val Hunter. Val's bohemian ways give Carolyn the space she needs to develop a sense of self and question the structure of her marriage, Paul's controlling behaviour. Val and Carolyn are, of course, drawn to one another.

It's a moving story, especially with the theme of respect within a relationship. More than that, it's also a boldly political novel, offering a dramatised critique of the idea that a woman becomes a man's property upon marriage. The politics in no way detract from the story - in fact, Val's wry comments during the BBQ scene had me laughing out loud - but rather make it all the more interesting. This book is incredibly readable.

I would recommend An Emergence of Green to anyone interested in romance or queer fiction.

[Jakalak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some lovely use of language in this book, but certain elements of the plot didn't really withstand the test of time. I enjoyed that the story was mostly driven by the development of the relationships between the characters, but there were certain elements that could have been explored with more depth and nuance, particularly how Val and Carolyn feel about themselves and each other in relation to committing/enabling adultery. Still, the sex scenes were well-written, and I enjoyed that both women were new to lesbian relationships but in different ways. I'm glad that I read this book, but I probably won't keep my copy around the house for potential future re-reading.

[Julieta Steyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book whose prose is kept constant and freely flowing to just over half of its content.
The problem arises the author (as always) when the emotion itself the wound just after both players have sex. It is a very good book, but from there begins a decline of prose, the story itself.
There is some violence included. As for the marital argument, it did not seem to give him a closure to the issue, but rather something closer to procrastinate and nothing else.
I enjoyed a lot BEFORE reaching the part that everyone wants to read.

[Lucy · Rating 1 out of 5]

For any young gays wanting an amazing breakthrough novel about a lesbian romance.. this is not your book.
This once “groundbreaking” novel is litterally a porno. Amongst the horrible writing and lack of proof reading, there are crude sex scenes and no real development of the actual lesbian relationship at hand.
If you like lesbian porn novels that read as though they are self published, this may be the one for you. If not I urge you to read another of the great number of amazing lgbt+ novels that illustrate actual love stories and not just horribly written sex.

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when it was first published in the '80s. I'm re-reading it now on my kindle.

So, I finished re-reading it and I have to say I liked it better this time around. I think the first time, I was too close and involved in the experience of male chauvinism. Some men still 'don't get it', but I find it easier to let them perpetuate their own ignorance.

Anyway, Forrest really captured the climate of that time and her characters are so real.

[Gina Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it...

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the characters alot. I did not like the infidelity (why do people cheat. I almost stopped reading) or the last act of the book but it was entirely believable just hard to read.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

For lesbian novels from the mid-'80s set in California, this is the best I've read.

[Ulla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be my favourite among Katherine V. Forrest's novels! Though I do love hem all!