Finer Grain — Denise Ohio

Amory Walker of Sterling, W. Va., grows up under the thumb of her religious Aunt Jessie. When Jessie dies, 19-year-old Amory is lost. However, through the prodding of a boyfriend she goes to college. At Chase University, Amory begins to write, ends her relationship with her boyfriend and, when she is drawn to Cady Baird, an overt lesbian, realizes her true sexual preference. Ohio tries to create with her first novel a chronicle of a woman's discovery of lesbianism; however, the plot is uninteresting and the unsympathetic characters do not display any of the intellectual growth of college students. Lesbianism is sensationalized as it is offered as a solution to all of Amory's troublesome circumstances: her nightmares, the death of Jessie, her women's studies course, ex-boyfriend, murky past, rape. Stylized with gratuitous profanity, this is a pedestrian novel on a controversial topic. (October)