Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
A multiverse of convolutions is the path for two women to meet on common ground and learn to surrender grief to enjoy love.

BOOK REVIEW:
Charlene lost her beloved and much-maligned son JP to suicide at home, nearly three years ago. Daily she makes time to visit the grave, bringing small children’s toys, even though JP was twenty-two when he took his own life in despair and drug addiction. Charlene has repressed all memories of JP’s downhill slide following his adolescent football injury, the substance abuse, and his violence. Suddenly memory confronts her in the form of Gareth, a four-year-old who exactly resembles JP at that age.

Gareth’s mother Morrisey immediately recognizes the photograph Charlene thrusts on her of JP. Unfortunately, her memories are neither stale nor repressed: JP was one of four who participated in a violent gang rape which might have left Morrisey dead of exposure and cold. Instead, she miraculously survived, concealed the event, and gave birth to a wonderful son, who is the image of one of the rapists.

I’ve seldom read a book with more convolutions. It was entirely similar to riding a Tunnel of Love in an amusement park, with the added attraction of wonderfully done characterizations, taut plotting, and the quest to bring the characters through successfully to the end so that they could truly discover their own “Happily Ever Afters.” The Odd Couple is most definitely worth reading, and its readership need not be limited to fans of Lesbian fiction. Oh, no, this is a novel that deserves maximum readership exposure.

Q. Kelly’s talent in bringing these two disparate women, their families and friends, and the rapists together in a web of complexity is simply astounding. I found myself turning pages as quickly as possible to discover what the author’s next “trick” would be. Simultaneously the story is totally realistic and viable. The Odd Couple is a true don’t-miss novel, but don’t read it without tissues ~ and a warm partner ~ near at hand.

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