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A review by stephanieel
The Real World by Kathleen Jowitt
4.0
A copy of the book was provided to Sapphic Book Club for free in exchange for an honest review.
In this book, we follow Colette, a PhD student that is coming to terms with aspects of a new phase of her life. Working on her PhD is stressful, even more so with an absent supervisor; on top of that her girlfriend Lydia wants to become a vicar, which directly affects their future, and where they go from there. A lot of changes seem to be coming and Colette has to face them eventually.
This was a book that I enjoyed more than I expected. At first, it wasn't an easy beginning. As an atheist, the religious aspect scared me a bit, in part the strange terms, and in part because it's not a perspective that I'm used to. I'm glad I continued reading, it all gets easier and eventually, I couldn't put it down.
What I liked the more about the book was the realism. Throughout the book often I got frustrated by some behaviors of Colette, but as I stopped to think, many of these were flaws that I too had. It was a calm book, and it pleased me was the peacefulness of Colette and Lydia's moments alone. In the end, I loved the resolution to it all - I can't think of a better ending, and I'd love to see and sequel accompanying them through the next phase of their life.
Colette and Lydia are the center of the story. Colette being the one to shy away from conflict and tough decisions, while Lydia is more decided in some matters, in such a way they are many times contrasting and complementary to each other. Apart from Colette and Lydia, I didn't feel much pull to the other characters, but they did stand as characters with their own stories and purposes, not only filling a role.
Perhaps the word I associate the most with the book is change. It can be scary and uncertain, and it can be good or bad, or just different. I think that's something all can identify with. And identify with flawed characters trying to deal with it all.
I'd easily recommend this book to anyone (and I have done so already). Even the religious aspect of it is not something that should keep people from reading it. It brings a fresh perspective of religious LGBT people.
In this book, we follow Colette, a PhD student that is coming to terms with aspects of a new phase of her life. Working on her PhD is stressful, even more so with an absent supervisor; on top of that her girlfriend Lydia wants to become a vicar, which directly affects their future, and where they go from there. A lot of changes seem to be coming and Colette has to face them eventually.
This was a book that I enjoyed more than I expected. At first, it wasn't an easy beginning. As an atheist, the religious aspect scared me a bit, in part the strange terms, and in part because it's not a perspective that I'm used to. I'm glad I continued reading, it all gets easier and eventually, I couldn't put it down.
What I liked the more about the book was the realism. Throughout the book often I got frustrated by some behaviors of Colette, but as I stopped to think, many of these were flaws that I too had. It was a calm book, and it pleased me was the peacefulness of Colette and Lydia's moments alone. In the end, I loved the resolution to it all - I can't think of a better ending, and I'd love to see and sequel accompanying them through the next phase of their life.
Colette and Lydia are the center of the story. Colette being the one to shy away from conflict and tough decisions, while Lydia is more decided in some matters, in such a way they are many times contrasting and complementary to each other. Apart from Colette and Lydia, I didn't feel much pull to the other characters, but they did stand as characters with their own stories and purposes, not only filling a role.
Perhaps the word I associate the most with the book is change. It can be scary and uncertain, and it can be good or bad, or just different. I think that's something all can identify with. And identify with flawed characters trying to deal with it all.
I'd easily recommend this book to anyone (and I have done so already). Even the religious aspect of it is not something that should keep people from reading it. It brings a fresh perspective of religious LGBT people.