Publisher: Blue Feather Books
Appointment with a Smile is the story of
two weeks in the life of artist Danielle O’Hara. For thirty years she has lived in Colorado,
devoted to her painting and still in love with the woman who deserted her,
Molly. Danielle comes to London for a
major showing of her work and by chance sees Molly again. She also meets a beautiful woman named
Bethany who is interested in a future with Danielle. Danielle finds herself caught up in a swirl
of emotions as the professional recognition she has always sought suddenly
comes crashing down on her, the feelings she’s never given up for Molly come
back with full force and she finds herself attracted to someone who tells her
that her life doesn’t have to be as lonely as she has made it. Danielle is forced to examine herself and her
life and not everything she discovers is pleasant.
Kieran
York has performed quite a feat. She’s
created a thoughtful, interesting story with a main character that is sometimes
aggravating beyond belief. Danielle is
one of those women the reader might want to grab and shake until her head
rattles. If she were someone you actually
knew, you’d want to yell at her, “What’s wrong with you?” The fact that her friends in the book
frequently do that makes the story more realistic. One woman keeps saying she doesn’t want
Danielle and another one very much does, but Danielle can’t make up her mind
which one to pursue. She’s a very
complex character, sometimes admirable and sometimes hopeless. At times it’s maddening to watch her possibly
torpedo a chance for happiness.
York
also chose to write about older characters.
That means that these women come with many more conditions and
situations than younger characters would have.
Some writers have said that they veer away from older characters for
this very reason. York treats their issues
as plot lines. A woman has to have some
age to have been hopelessly in love with a person she hasn’t seen in three
decades. Danielle also faces a very real
concern when she wonders if she can make room in her life for a lover after the
age of 60. She’s used to living her life
a certain way and she’s not sure she wants to change at this point or ask
someone to move into her sphere. Many
older readers will be able to identify with that internal battle between
finding someone to love and altering the comfortable patterns they’ve settled
into.
The
encouraging part of the story comes from Danielle’s friends. Though they are the same approximate ages,
they very much live their lives in the moment and with complete joy. They provide the Greek chorus chanting in
reply to Danielle’s pessimism that life isn’t over until it’s over and that she
should grasp every opportunity to experience it to the fullest. York uses Danielle’s friend Esther, an
astrophysicist, in a sotto voce position.
Her comments about the universe, the expanse of time and the possibility
of discoveries is in direct contrast to Danielle’s short vision. Esther and the other women definitely believe
that age is nothing but a number and is not the primary factor in what you
decide to do.
There
is a lot in this book. It’s easy to
forget that it only covers two weeks in time because so many issues are
addressed. It was refreshing to read
about older characters dealing with what life throws at them. Most lesbian fiction tends to feature
characters between twenty-five and forty-five, but the population is aging. There are many things in this book that an
older woman can relate to. There is also
a message of hope in that love (and sex) does exist for older women, just at a
different pace.
Appointment with a Smile is not just for
older readers. There are points here
that can appeal to many ages. However, it
was nice to read about life from a different perspective.
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