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"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>WARNING-SPOILERS BELOW<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Characters:
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
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 relationship Mona 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
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
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
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
Madonna hosted "A Night to Benefit Raising Malawi and UNICEF" in NYC last night. A charity dinner and auction to raise money and awareness for orphans and children, the A-list gala raised $3.7 million and also launched a new Gucci store (free shit!!!!). Madonna looked amazing and was seen shamelessly flirting with "IT" girl, Bonnie Somerville.
Attendees included, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Drew Barrymore, Salma Hayek, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, Billy Joel, Chris Rock, Ali Larter, Martha Stewart, Alicia Keys, Nelly Furtado, Heidi Klum, Diddy, Angie Harmon, Becki Newton, Cynthia Nixon, Debra Messing, Donald Trump, Ellen Pompeo, Eric Dane, Lucy Liu, Nina Garcia, Pharrell Williams, Rosie O'Donnell, Timbaland, Tea Loni and the beautiful Bonnie Somerville!
