Dual timeline novel set mainly in NEW YORK

7th June 2022

That Green Eyed Girl by Julie Owen Moylan, dual timeline novel set mainly in New York, 1955 and 1975.

The chapters almost alternate between 1955 and 1975. An apartment in 1955 sees Dovie and Gillian living together, two women at at time when being gay was illegal and when the penalties were huge, with unfathomable consequences. In the words of Gillian, who expresses her profound fear at their relationship being discovered: “They will fire us. They will take away our teaching licences, so nobody will ever employ us again, and – worse – we could be prosecuted or locked up in a mental institution so they can try to make us ‘normal’ again”

The couple has been caught out and Dovie, to mitigate any future problems, has invited a third woman into their apartment, who spotted them kissing and is intent on blackmail, given that she knows the domestic arrangements.

Twenty years later 16 year old Ava is intrigued by a box of mementoes that arrives from Paris. Given her father is having an affair, and her mother is suffering from psychological difficulties – both are emotionally unavailable to her – it is thus down to her to find out more about the intended recipient. The photo of a female with LIAR scrawled across it particularly piques her interest and she goes on a circuitous route to discover the woman’s identity, ably assisted by her best friend.

The author is really good at evoking the feel – and difficulties – of the era in which she has chosen to set her novel, the louche bars, the cocktails and the illegality of same sex intimate adult relationships. The heat of New York filters through the narrative as the women all live their lives.  The author really manages the dual timeline very well, which is often quite hard to do – avoiding confusion and keeping the narrative seamlessly flowing.There were a couple of areas where I felt a more fleshed out background would have enriched the reading experience and storyline – I wanted to know about how the resident in the apartment below Ava came to be there, and how Ava’s parents had got together, for example. I wasn’t overly taken with young Ava’s sleuthing adventures, they felt more like a device to enable the story to move forward. These are, though inconsequential observations in what is, overall, a very good debut novel. I will be so interested to see where this author goes next. This is a very talented writer and storyteller.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

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