1st Installment of the SeriesStarted: 1/31/2008
Ended: 2/18/2008
Synopsis:
Seeking a change in her life, Mary Ann Singleton moves to San Francisco, soon finding herself living at 28 Barbary Lane. Her life becomes intertwined with those of her varied neighbors and a myriad of colorful characters.
The novel is a look at San Francisco in the 1970's, exploring "alternative lifestyles" and "underground culture"
The novel is a look at San Francisco in the 1970's, exploring "alternative lifestyles" and "underground culture"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>WARNING-SPOILERS BELOW<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Characters:
Robert: 30 y/o; beautiful white teeth with curly brown hair and blue eyes; meets Mary Ann in the grocery store with his boyfriend, Michael; used to be a recruiter for the Marines; after 3months together, dumps Michael and has him move out
Jon Fielding:Gynecologist; lean with blond hair and blue eyes; compared to a Greek god by Mona, and Mouse's boyfriend for a short time; While Jon himself is a down-to-earth and loving man, his primary circle of friends is the 'A-Gays,' a group of wealthy, snobbish gay men who are judgemental of most everyone - including Mouse; met Mouse at The Arena skating rink on "Gay" night; becomes fuck buddies with Beauchamp, but quickly breaks off the relationship
Mary Ann Singleton: A prudish 25 y/o naïf from Cleveland, Ohio, who impulsively decides to leave her sheltered life behind her and turn a vacation to San Francisco into a new chapter in her life; wears a mood ring; through Mona, lands a job at Halcyon Communications as an executive secretary to Edgar Halcyon; also through Mona, volunteers at The Bay Area Crisis Switchboard
Connie Bradshaw: Stewardess for United Airline; went to high school with Mary Ann and allows her to crash at her apartment; initially shows Mary Ann the ropes in San Francisco, dragging her to clubs and even grocery stores in order to meet guys; whore; fucks Brain
Connie Bradshaw: Stewardess for United Airline; went to high school with Mary Ann and allows her to crash at her apartment; initially shows Mary Ann the ropes in San Francisco, dragging her to clubs and even grocery stores in order to meet guys; whore; fucks Brain
Anna Madrigal: Landlady of 28 Barbary Lane; 56 y/o; exotically - if not off-puttingly - regal, Anna fosters a maternal relationship with each of her tenants, perhaps most aggressively with Mona Ramsey; in addition to gently nudging Mary Ann out of her shell, she begins an affair with Edgar Halcyon, which is threatened by a dark secret of Anna's that may soon come to light (but not in this book); fond of marijuana and grows it in the garden; grew up at the Blue Moon Lodge (a whorehouse where her mother lived & worked); ran away when she was 16y/o; used to own & run a book store
28 Barbary Lane: Well-weathered, 3 story structure made of brown shingles; owned and run by Anna Madrigal; after first viewing Mary Ann moves in immediately in order to get away from Connie's apartment and lifestyle
Robert: 30 y/o; beautiful white teeth with curly brown hair and blue eyes; meets Mary Ann in the grocery store with his boyfriend, Michael; used to be a recruiter for the Marines; after 3months together, dumps Michael and has him move outMichael Tolliver (aka Mouse): Mona's best friend and eventual roommate; proficiently confidant, albeit newly out, gay man, that has a sweet disposition and genuine compassion; goes to live with Mona after being dumped by his then-boyfriend (Robert) only to begin a relationship with Jon Fielding, a gynecologist (noted fuck buddies: Robert, Chuck-met at The Twin Peaks bar (fascinated with Mouse's weejun shoes), and Jon); from Orlando, Florida; parents are unaware that he is gay even when they come to visit him over Halloween
Jon Fielding:Gynecologist; lean with blond hair and blue eyes; compared to a Greek god by Mona, and Mouse's boyfriend for a short time; While Jon himself is a down-to-earth and loving man, his primary circle of friends is the 'A-Gays,' a group of wealthy, snobbish gay men who are judgemental of most everyone - including Mouse; met Mouse at The Arena skating rink on "Gay" night; becomes fuck buddies with Beauchamp, but quickly breaks off the relationshipMona Ramsey: Mary Ann's spacey, bohemian neighbor; frizzy red hair; lives right below Mary Ann on the 2nd floor; copywriter for Halcyon Comminications ad agency; helps Mary Ann get a secretarial job working for Mr. Halcyon; restless and a bit depressed, Mona finds herself unemployed after a particularly self-righteous day at the office; opens her apartment to her old, recently-dumped friend Mouse, but moves out herself to rekindle a relationship with D'orothea Wilson; fag-hag to Mouse; at end of book she moves back in with Mouse
D'orothea Wilson: Successful African-American model who comes back to San Francisco to rekindle her love affair with Mona; an image of grace and sophistication; in NYC for the last 5 years modeling; met Mona in NYC at a swimsuit campaign; moved in together in a SoHo loft, but 6 months later Mona moved out to SF, ending the relationship; now living in the same city, D'orothera persuades Mona to move back in with her at her Pacific Heights apartment; soon Mona uncovers D'orothea's secret that she is not black, but is taking pills that darken her skin; apparently she got more modeling jobs as an exotic model
Edgar Halcyon: DEAD: Chairman of the board of Halcyon Communications; he and his wife, Frannie, have grown apart and, when he learns that he his dying from kidney failure, he begins a rejuvenating affair with Anna Madrigal; is protective of his daughter, DeDe, which strains his relationship with Beauchamp, his son-in-law and employee; Edgar learns of Anna's secret (but we don't) and it does not affect their relationship; Anna invites Edgar to her Christmas Eve party but he does not show up because he died in bed at home; Anna senses his passing and later visits his grave, leaving a joint at his headstone
Edgar Halcyon: DEAD: Chairman of the board of Halcyon Communications; he and his wife, Frannie, have grown apart and, when he learns that he his dying from kidney failure, he begins a rejuvenating affair with Anna Madrigal; is protective of his daughter, DeDe, which strains his relationship with Beauchamp, his son-in-law and employee; Edgar learns of Anna's secret (but we don't) and it does not affect their relationship; Anna invites Edgar to her Christmas Eve party but he does not show up because he died in bed at home; Anna senses his passing and later visits his grave, leaving a joint at his headstone
Beauchamp Day: DeDe's narcissistic and philandering husband; handsome with blue eyes and black hair; aside from bitterly sucking up to Edgar(his father-in-law & boss), snidely putting down his wife, Beauchamp also finds the time to carry on extramarital affairs with both Mary Ann and Jon; however could not get it up with Mary Ann (nor his wife) who thought he was impotent
DeDe Halcyon Day: Prominent socialite in San Francisco and the daughter of Edgar Halcyon; in a contemtuous marriage to Beauchamp Day and is frequently admonished for her 'puffy' appearance; aware of her husband's infidelity with Mary Ann, DeDe retreats to an exclusive fitness spa an emerges more confident; her energized reunion with Beauchamp, however, is spoiled when she realized an earlier dalliance with the Chinese grocery boy (Lionel) has left her pregnant; goes to great lengths to conceal the truth, including sleeping with a particularly grimy gossip columnist(High socitey friends include: Binky Gruen, Prue, Splinter & Oona Riley);after missing her period, Binky refers DeDe to Jon Fielding; DeDe decides to keep the baby
Lionel Wong: Delivery boy for Jiffy's Market; muscular 18 y/o Chinese; suffering from a Bruce Lee fixation; fucks DeDe and gets her pregnantFrannie Halcyon: Edgar's wife and DeDe's mother; spends most of her days oblivious in an alcohol-induced haze; partial to mai tais
Faust: DEAD: Frannie's Great Dane; confidante; partial to mai tais; dies due to old age
Charles McCabe: Columnist
Faust: DEAD: Frannie's Great Dane; confidante; partial to mai tais; dies due to old age
Ruby Miller: Edgar secretly meets with her; she prays for his health to return
Peter Cipriani: Fucking Beauchamp? or just friends?; dating Shugie Sussman
Brian Hawkins: Lawyer-cum-waiter who also lives at 28 Barbary Lane; lives across the hall from Mary Ann; Mrs. Madrigal tries to set them up; has chestnut curly hair with green eyes; seen as a womanizer by nearly everyone he knows, he spends most of his time cruising clubs and bars for women; discovers that two women he has picked up for sex on seperate occasions are mother and daughter (Candi & Cheryl); becomes friends with Mouse, and they end up cruising together for tail
Vincent: DEAD: Volunteer at The BayArea Crisis Switchboard; scraggly red beard; missing his left ear and right hand's little finger; having marital problems with his wife (Laurel) who has run off and joined the Israel Army;not mentally stable; commits suicide at the switchboard by hanging himself; Mary Ann finds his body
Borris: Fat, tiger-striped cat; belonged to no one particular but wandered independently around Barbary Lane
Norman Neal Williams: Barbary Lane neighbor; lives in the rooftop apartment that is extremely small but with dazzling views; large, middle-aged man (44 y/o); salesman for Nutri-Vim-selling organic vitamins; wears a clip-on tie; skittish recluse of a man; Mary Ann tries to be friendly toward him and eventually finds herself beginning a relationship with him, has some secrets of his own, however, that threaten to change things for Mary Ann and the rest of the tenants at Barbary Lane; turns out that he is a private investigator gathering information on Anna Madrigal for Ms. Ramsey(Mona? or her mother?); Mary Ann also discovers that Norman is a pediphile and is making child pornography films with Lexi; when Mary Ann confronts a drunken Norman-he accidently falls from a cliff; Mary Ann confesses to Mouse and they go to see if they can find his body, but find nothing
Alexandra(aka Lexi): Little girl that Norman babysits for friends on most Sundays; revealed that Lexy is a child porn star and Norman is not only her agent but her onscreen lover
Vincent: DEAD: Volunteer at The BayArea Crisis Switchboard; scraggly red beard; missing his left ear and right hand's little finger; having marital problems with his wife (Laurel) who has run off and joined the Israel Army;not mentally stable; commits suicide at the switchboard by hanging himself; Mary Ann finds his body
Borris: Fat, tiger-striped cat; belonged to no one particular but wandered independently around Barbary Lane
Norman Neal Williams: Barbary Lane neighbor; lives in the rooftop apartment that is extremely small but with dazzling views; large, middle-aged man (44 y/o); salesman for Nutri-Vim-selling organic vitamins; wears a clip-on tie; skittish recluse of a man; Mary Ann tries to be friendly toward him and eventually finds herself beginning a relationship with him, has some secrets of his own, however, that threaten to change things for Mary Ann and the rest of the tenants at Barbary Lane; turns out that he is a private investigator gathering information on Anna Madrigal for Ms. Ramsey(Mona? or her mother?); Mary Ann also discovers that Norman is a pediphile and is making child pornography films with Lexi; when Mary Ann confronts a drunken Norman-he accidently falls from a cliff; Mary Ann confesses to Mouse and they go to see if they can find his body, but find nothing
Alexandra(aka Lexi): Little girl that Norman babysits for friends on most Sundays; revealed that Lexy is a child porn star and Norman is not only her agent but her onscreen lover
Charles McCabe: Columnist Helen Stonecypher: Frannie's high socirty friend
Herbert & Alice Tolliver: Mouse's parents that come to visit from Orlando, Fl. over Halloween; unaware their son is gay
Carson Calles: Society editor of Western Gentry magazine; rat-faced and short; smokes a pipe; blackmails DeDe into fucking him to keep quiet about her impending pregnancy
The A-Gays: Collier Lane (attorney); Rick Hampton; Arch Gidde; Ed Stoker; Chuck Lord; Bill Hill and Tony Hughes
My Review: Thoroughly entertaining, funny and fast moving read, with some endearing and very likeable characters, I highly recommended it; and very much look forward to the subsequent developments in the many sequels.
Book Score: 9/10
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