THE QUEERING

An aging lesbian finally discovers and voices her truth in Skipstone’s novel.

Taylor Baird MacKenzie is a long-term substitute teacher and writer in the conservative, rural Alaskan town of Clear.At 70, she remains closeted, and she’s been unhappily married to a man for four decades. Her “greatest happiness” is to stealthily publish erotically charged lesbian romance novels loosely based on her own history. She disguises herself with a pseudonym inspired by her former lover Brooke Skipstone, who was murdered in the 1970s (and who shares a name with the author of this novel). Through her novels’ fearless female characters, she gives voice to her own truest desires and outspoken perspectives. Over time, however, she feels that keeping her secret has “suffocated her life”; her troubles are only exacerbated by the prison release of her dangerous brother, Austin, who seeks to settle an old score. MacKenzie has been fearful of coming out since Brooke’s death, but a catharsis has made her brave enough to author an autobiography; also, her queer student Grace has figured out her secret and befriends her. However, Grace’s anti-gay podcaster father, Levi Mitchell, has discovered MacKenzie’s books and launches a campaign against her. Grace welcomes the fight and meets Levi’s vitriol (and legacy of abuse) with her own brand of fierce activism. Over the course of this novel, Skipstone’s prose is propulsive, moving a rousing story from past to present at a fast clip. The characters are developed well, and their vivid personalities make them feel like real people. The author’s firm grasp of LGBTQ+ issues and of the queer community’s fight for equality is effectively amplified. As an antagonist, Levi comes across as appropriately frenzied and hateful, while Grace will strike readers as appealingly defiant. Overall, it’s an impressive story that packs a punch.

A moving and compelling tale of a journey toward truth and personal liberation.