Liza Winthrop, a student at a private school in Brooklyn, meets Annie Kenyon, who lives in a different social world in the city. Their friendship centers on visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cloisters, eventually shifting into a romantic relationship. After a teacher discovers them together during a weekend at a faculty house, they face an administrative hearing at Liza’s school. The narrative focuses on the internal conflict between their feelings and the professional consequences for the teachers involved, alongside the pressure to conform to heteronormative expectations.
Young adult readers looking for realistic historical depictions of queer identity read this book to understand the social stakes of coming out in the early 1980s. It provides a clear look at how institutional homophobia affects both teenagers and adults in educational settings. Readers find a story that avoids the tragic endings common in older literature, leaving them with an example of how to maintain personal integrity despite public scrutiny and family tension.
Inward-looking and clear-cut; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1982
- Language
- EN
