Description
🏆 2022 BIBA® LGBTQ Memoir Winner!
Calico Lane is set in a time before sexual identity became a household phrase. In Northeastern Pennsylvania during the 1960s, ten-year-old Judy somehow knew she must keep her secret hidden. Judy learns to separate confusing emotions from how ‘normal’ girls act. In her teenage years., she pretends to like dating boys, that is, until she meets Valerie.
Harboring a secret is paralyzing. Religious convictions, a formidable family’s ‘Don’t Make Shame’ mantra, and social norms of the 1970s propel Judy into a life of pretense. At nineteen years old, she could not fathom the toll her secret would take on marriage, motherhood, and family bonds.
Through a humorous and poignant narrative, Calico Lane shows it’s never too late to realize what’s important in life and become true to the person you are – whether it takes several years, a few decades, or a lifetime.
Calico Lane will resonate with all who have pretended or wished they were someone else.
An excerpt from Calico Lane was a semifinalist in the 2021 Tucson Festival of Books Literary Competition.
