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gaykittens's review
3.0
As a novel, it was wonderful and likely deserves 4 stars. As a story written about one's family, I feel ambivalence. The only major characters failed to be directly addressed in the postscript were non-famous Black characters, making me think they were one of the "few" who were completely fictitious. If that's the case, it changes the feel of the novel considerably.
biiggay's review
5.0
I love this book. This story about a lesbian woman in the mid-twentieth century is very eye-opening and such a stark difference from lesbian novels released today. Her navigation through work and love is both admirable and heart wrenching. Would definitely recommend.
hystericalonion's review
I just could not get into the story. Might pick it up later.
angieinbooks's review
3.0
A Thin Bright Line is a lovely homage to the queer women who bravely navigated their careers, families, social circles by hiding (or not) their desires, their lovers, and often having to sacrifice something in the bargain. It's an homage to a little-known aunt, the author's namesake, who seemed to lived two lives: the one her family saw and/or wanted to believe and the one she actually lived, fictionalized here.
The novel itself is just okay. It meanders between engrossing and boring pretty consistently. The characters aren't fully developed and are grossly stereotypical, and there are some inconsistencies and errors in the writing that irked me ("funnest"? Really?), but at the end I was invested.
The tragedy of the story happens off of the page, explained in the prologue, so this defies the typical Bury Your Gays Trope by a technicality. The true tragedy--aside from Lucybelle's life being cut so short and leaving behind a partner and *sobs* a dog--is Lucy not being able to really get to know her aunt--the person whose path she unwittingly followed (in name, in sexuality, in science, in writing a novel).
This isn't the best thing I've read, but it packs an emotional punch if you can make it until the end.
The novel itself is just okay. It meanders between engrossing and boring pretty consistently. The characters aren't fully developed and are grossly stereotypical, and there are some inconsistencies and errors in the writing that irked me ("funnest"? Really?), but at the end I was invested.
The tragedy of the story happens off of the page, explained in the prologue, so this defies the typical Bury Your Gays Trope by a technicality. The true tragedy--aside from Lucybelle's life being cut so short and leaving behind a partner and *sobs* a dog--is Lucy not being able to really get to know her aunt--the person whose path she unwittingly followed (in name, in sexuality, in science, in writing a novel).
This isn't the best thing I've read, but it packs an emotional punch if you can make it until the end.
mamasquirrel's review
3.0
I wanted to love this book but I didn't--the protagonist didn't come alive for me, which is a tragedy, because it is the POINT of the book. I did, however, love the afterword where the author talks about the research and writing process she underwent to properly understand her character (her aunt).
kitnotmarlowe's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
the lavender scare is one of my favourite topics in 20th century history, and i'm glad i didn't read this until i'd read most of the authors referenced (carson, cather, bannon--i have several of taylor's books on my kindle and am adding hansbury to my tbr immediately after writing this review). lucy jane bledsoe truly is writing books for me specifically combining lesbian pulp novels + polar research.
em_reads_books's review
5.0
Compelling - I was itching the whole time to get to the postscript and learn how much was real and how the author learned what she learned - and infused with both anxiety and hope throughout. The oppression of the McCarthy era slowly giving way to a more open and liberated time. Fantastic historical fiction in that it shows us how an ordinary person's life could be made so extraordinary by the scientific progress and social changes it intersected with, and in that it fills in the queerness that is too often erased from the official archive. The fact that the author had to dig so deeply to discover what she shared with her aunt is a testament to how damaging that erasure is.
Highly recommended if you don't mind stories without much of a plot - like a real life, this narrative meanders through relationships and everyday drama without fitting neatly into an arc. (I loved the occasional references to the pulpy lesbian tragedy novels of the time, paralleling the tragic ending of Lucybelle's story and reminding us that the joy before the inevitable end is the part we're reading for.)
My one disappointment is that a major character - one of the more complex and fascinating ones - doesn't get her due in the postscript. How real was she, in Lucybelle's life or as another someone who may have existed? What did the author know about her community and how it intersected with Lucybelle's?
Highly recommended if you don't mind stories without much of a plot - like a real life, this narrative meanders through relationships and everyday drama without fitting neatly into an arc. (I loved the occasional references to the pulpy lesbian tragedy novels of the time, paralleling the tragic ending of Lucybelle's story and reminding us that the joy before the inevitable end is the part we're reading for.)
My one disappointment is that a major character - one of the more complex and fascinating ones - doesn't get her due in the postscript. How real was she, in Lucybelle's life or as another someone who may have existed? What did the author know about her community and how it intersected with Lucybelle's?
missyp's review
3.0
Author Lucy Jane Bledsoe has done what many of us wish we could do: she has taken an intriguing fragment of a true story, researched the heck out of it, and turned it into an interesting novel. A Thin Bright Line covers a pivotal decade in American history (1956-1966), focusing on a major movement of that period: civil/equal rights for gay people, women, African-Americans. The story also touches on the Cold War and how the arms race ultimately co-opted the work of scientists focusing on higher ideals (in this case, pulling a nearly 1,400 meter core of ice from the Arctic to study millennia of climate change.) A Thin Bright Line offers historical facts wrapped in prose that sometimes has a tinge of purple. The narrative and characters are compelling, though, keeping me reading until the end.
gripyfish's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0