Family secrets. We all have them. Sometimes we hold them inside, sure that their revelation will somehow violently disrupt our world. Or sometimes the discovery of them can open up our lives in ways we never dreamed possible, like finding out that your favorite “old maid” aunt was really a lesbian. This recent lesbian novel explores the theme of family secrets and the new world of possibilities when those secrets are uncovered.
Two Sisters at Odds
This Wild Silence is the story of two adult sisters haunted by the disappearance of their brother thirty years ago. Bledsoe, whose other titles cover gay and lesbian travel and sports dyke stories, leads us this time, on a journey of the psyche. Bledsoe takes readers on a winter camping trip where the protagonist adult sisters will not only be physically and mentally challenged by the wilderness, but they will forced to face the truth of what happened the day brother Timothy disappeared.
Missing Brother Timothy
Younger sister Tina, a dyke doctor in San Francisco’s tenderloin district, muddles her way through medical school, love and life, always haunted by missing brother Timothy. Big sister Liz seems to have moved on and Tina holds this against her, eager to point out every misstep her sister makes.
Winter Camping in the High Sierras
The novel culminates high in the Sierras as a winter camping trip takes a sudden bad turn. Bledsoe’s crisp writing flows well in this harsh environment. The story reaches back and forth in time as Tina confronts a series of failed relationships and attempts to solve the mystery of her brother’s disappearance. Amongst this stark backdrop, Lenny, a teenage fresh air child they’ve brought along on the trip offers much-needed comic relief.
Crisp/Sharp Writing
The story is engaging enough, but ultimately it is Bledsoe’s writing that kept me turning the pages. With mood-setting description such as: “The morning’s horizon is violent with the colors of dawn. Blood red. Fire orange. Bruise purple. Smeared like pain across the sky, over the mountains and frozen lake. It’s a raw morning, new as an egg…”
Bledsoe has mastered the gift of storytelling, and that ultimately, will keep you engaged in this book.
