Rossner, Judith. August. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983.
Reason read: February is Psychology month. Maybe that is because so many people want to know what happened to their commitment to new year resolutions?
Two women: Dawn Henley is a patient with obsessive tendencies, latching onto daddy types as lovers. Her mother committed suicide when Dawn was only six months old. Her father drowned soon thereafter. She was raised by Vera and Tony, a lesbian couple. Do any of these early tragedies have anything to do with her current neurotic behavior of dependency? Like any person raised without really knowing their birth parents, Dawn is on a journey to find herself. Her identity is tied to people she doesn’t remember.
Lulu is Dawn’s therapist. The telling of her side of the story mostly happens in August, when she is on vacation and away from being a therapist. While on holiday, she can be a mother to two young sons and try to rebuild a relationship with her estranged adult daughter, who resurfaces after seven years. Lulu is also trying to justify a romantic relationship with a married man. She knows it isn’t right, but she can’t help herself. Lulu’s character reminded me of Brenda Leigh Johnson, the main character on the television show, The Closer. Brenda’s professional life hid a very chaotic personal life. Both women are great at their jobs, but behind the scenes, they were a mess.
As an aside, I tried really hard to not think Don Henley when reading about Dawn.
Author fact: I think I remember seeing Looking for Mr. Goodbar on my parent’s bookshelf when I was a kid. I am only reading Nine Months in the Life of an Old Maid for the Challenge (after August, of course).
Book trivia: August details the plot of an actual movie called “Seconds.” I put it on the list because I think it sounds interesting. Will I actually watch it? Who knows.
Music: Gershwin, and “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child”.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Shrinks and Shrinkees” (p 221).
~*LunaSea*~ 