Love and Memory

Plot

From Library Journal This first novel explores the difficulty of balancing and maintaining personal relationships of all types. Coworkers Liz and Glenn are attracted to one another, but each is wary, hampered by emotional baggage from the past. Through them we experience the risks and uncertainty of self disclosure and the adjustments one makes to nurture a relationship. An unconventional, and occasionally graphic, romance with its focus on a lesbian couple, the story still manages to convey the universal fears and excitement that accompany a budding affair. This is an interesting debut, and Oleson appears to be a writer to watch.- Barbara E. Kemp, Columbia Univ. Libs.Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. Product description Book by Oleson, Amy From Publishers Weekly Oleson's first novel is a modern lesbian love story. Soccer-playing computer whiz Liz Edwards turns a dismal summer internship around, gets her boss Glenn Kiley out of a business suit and humanizes her. Initially the scapegoat of ugly office politics and faced with a supervisor who refuses to give her work, Liz fills her time by digging program codes out of the recycling bins. She spots a snarl-up and offers to streamline the firm's quarterly closing. The high point of intrigue nicely pits will-she-won't-she (will Liz solve the computer problem?) against will-they-won't-they (will the pair get it on in bed?) when icy Glenn begins to thaw during late nights with Liz at the office sorting out the snafu in front of scrolling screens. But resolutions and Glenn's reform all happen too quickly, which is a pity, because Oleson is at her best when she keeps us guessing. Some interesting spats between Liz and her roommate Alice on the subtle borders between love and friendship aren't enough to save the last part of the book from fizzling out into a stretch of insecurities and shadows that haunt Liz from previous relationships. Still, of all the characters, Liz is the most rounded; the others are rather one-dimensional. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.