Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509220133
SECTION: BOOK PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY MONTY S. LEITCH
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
\ Ordinarily it's considered bad form to mention an author's photo in the review of her book. What do looks have to do with skill?
But the "Dear Literary Editor" letter that came introducing this book is just too good to pass up. It reads, in part:
"Shortly after Algonquin ... and Paula Gover signed a contract ... the author sent us a picture of herself for publicity purposes. Clearly visible ... is a tattoo just above her heart that looks very much like a capital letter A. `A scarlet letter? An Algonquin A?' We had to ask!
"`I got the Algonquin A tattooed on my chest,' Ms. Gover confirmed."
Now, is this true?
Who cares.
For whatever reason, Paula K. Gover does have a tattoo - a terrific tattoo - right there on her breast. And I liked her for that, even before I read her book.
I like her still better now.
The characters in Gover's stories live on the hard-bitten, scary, scarred and destitute edge of society. And yet, they keep on taking risks, finding love and naming all their reasons for getting up another day and being glad - really hopeful! - for it. They keep on keeping on.
These could be sentimental stories. But they are not. Gover sees with too clear an eye for that, and she hears dialect unerringly. Exchanges between men and women, between adults and their children ring with truth and complexity.
A favorite story of mine, "My Naked Beauty," begins with stirring honesty:
"I'm 38, and I no longer know how to mother my daughter Corinne. She's just this month turned 16. Had I known what sharing a house with a pubescent, hair-spritzing, mirror-mated beauty pageant contestant would mean in the long run, however, I'd have stopped her cold. For now, it helps to keep things in perspective. Two doors down from us, Rhoda Emmons's 15-year-old Tammy is pregnant and keeping the baby. Jenna Browning hit a tree going eighty while drunk. ... For now, I remind myself that the contest at least fills up the days of [Corinne's] summer vacation. It keeps her out of the video arcades and away from the backseat of some boy's loud car and fast fingers. And after the pageant, I'll have my daughter back. Knock on wood.''
After the pageant, she does have her daughter back. But changed.
As is always the case in these strong stories. The characters are marked by their lives. Tattooed, as it were, in celebration of the experience.
Monty S. Leitch is a columnist for this paper.
by CNB