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INSIDE OUT
by Elise Title
St. Martin's Minotaur, August 2003
354 pages
$24.95
ISBN: 0312285825


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Lynn Ingram wants to get out of prison. She has been in solitary confinement for not quite two and a half years, for her own safety. She was convicted of manslaughter, but still maintains it was self-defense. She wants to come to Horizon House, a half-way house run by Natalie (Nat) Price, a woman succeeding in a very male arena. Lynn is a transsexual. An incredibly feminine, lovely woman who used to be a man.

Shortly after Lynn comes to Horizon House, she is brutally attacked and almost killed. Nat and her cohorts try to figure out who did this. There are complicating circumstances, of course. Nat has been dating Boston Homicide Detective Leo Cascarelli, who is on the case. Leo has a son, Jakey. Jakey's mother Suzanne Holden is an inmate at Horizon House; she used to room with Lynn Ingram before the solitary confinement. Jack Dwyer is Nat's second in command, and he'd like to renew a previous relationship, only hinted at in Inside Out.

This is a very complex book, dealing with many issues most of us will only read about in the newspapers and never confront face to face. She has her characters, not all of whom are very nice people, react in a wide variety of ways, all of them believable. In particular, there are scenes dealing with men's reactions to MtF (Male to Female) transsexuals, and the conflicts of a woman who loves a man with a child by another woman who is still in the picture (and so many of us have been there). Title is very adept at portraying these situations in a manner that feels like truth.

The plot is reasonably complex, although I wasn't particularly paying attention to the details and still knew who the bad guy was. There is enough going on that perhaps it will escape other people's notice.

Inside Out is not a book to read when you need something cheerful and light, something to pull you out of a bad day. If you like good writing, don't mind unpleasant situations and not-so-nice people, this is a good book for you. If strong female characters ring your chimes, read this, and track down her first book, Killing Time, which is supposed to be just as good.

Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, August 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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