Between Two Women: Conversations about Love & Relationship

by Patricia Harrelson

Married for 33 years and the mother of three grown children, Patricia leads a comfortable life. But one day, she crosses a line into the arms of a woman. Once there, she cant ignore the emotional intensity shes discovered. Within three months, she leaves her husband to live with her lover. Facing family and friends who are bewildered and disturbed, Patricia begins to question much of what she has always believed. Confusion permeates her sleep, and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1432719998
• ISBN13: 9781432719999
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 9.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Between Two Women

Between Two Women is an engaging book that explores the lives of two women - one a lifelong lesbian, the other who, late in life, finds herself falling in love with a female colleague - much to her surprise and dismay. Harrelson delves into the delicate, intriguing, occasionally uncomfortable subject matter with honesty, grace and integrity, and highlights wonderfully the (sometimes) fluid spectrum of sexuality. At another level, the stories provoke thought and contemplation beyond sexuality and into the realm of the divine feminine and the powerful connection between all women. This book is an important read for all those who are brave enough to examine their own authenticity and personal truth.

Between Two Women

Patricia Harrelson's, Between Two Women, is a beautifully written account of the author's journey of self discovery as she struggles to understand her transformation into the world of lesbianism. Married for thirty-three years to the same man, this mother of three children grapples with her decision to leave her husband for a woman, to understand morally and spiritually how this change in her sexuality could have happened. Naturally, her children are upset when she tells them her plans. She's treading new territory here. Their relationship has forever changed. They each will have to find balance on unfamiliar ground. As a heterosexual woman, this concept of changing sexual boundaries later in life was confusing and curious to me. Patricia's book helped me understand how this could happen. Her interviews with Carol Cracknell, a lesbian who experienced prejudices against gay people in the 1950's and 1960's, and was willing to share her perspective and stories about her lovers with Patricia , were woven well into Patricia's search for perspective. I believe this is an important book and that it will appeal to a wide audience of people, gay, lesbian, and heterosexual. It is a good, easy read, and I highly recommend it.

An unexpected legacy of loving

I've been looking forward to reading this book since I met Patricia Harrelson at a writing residency a few years ago. Struck by her dedication to the project, and intrigued with how oral history and memoir would mesh, I was thrilled to google her and find that the book had recently been published. Between Two Women is a breakthrough book in terms of genre. Patricia has interwoven the story of her elderly friend, Carol, navigating career and personal life as a lesbian, pre-Stonewall, with her own coming out journey. Her antidotes and reflections reveal a very different life, being married for 30 years and raising children, and it becomes clear as we find out more about Carol that there is a legacy to be handed down. Both characters are compelling. I was inspired by their courage in living and loving authentically, despite the challenges the mainstream culture afforded them. The book begins a conversation, that I hope will continue, about how the lessons, and sacrifices, of previous generations can ease the burden on subsequent ones, especially in populations that have been marginalized and are now taking their rightful place in communities across the United States.

like a textual photograph

This book spans a bridge anchored by two different lives, and yet includes all the details necessary to hold the bridge in place and keep the story in focus. FOCUS is a good word to apply for the book in general, which reads like a photograph: each detail is presented until you realize that you are seeing what the writer sees, both the literal reality and the literary truth, with the same clarity and understanding. She does not seem to expect that the reader would take the same picture, but she (gently) insists for the duration of the book that you see what she sees, and she makes it very easy to do so.

A Breath of Fresh Air!

I'm a huge fan of memoirs. In part because I have somewhat of a voyeuristic streak; there's something provocative and slightly unsettling about being privy to another person's innermost thoughts and memories. On the not-so-pervy side, there's also a sense of satisfaction in recognizing a bit of one's self within the confines of another person's journey; realizing that one isn't alone in navigating the complexities of life is always a bit of a relief. Author Patricia Harrelson delves into Carol's history as a lesbian in the 50's and 60's while working to understand her own place in the world as she moves from a 33-year marriage into a relationship with a woman. Her long-held perspectives change as she acknowledges the path Carol helped forge and painstakingly addresses the traditional views put forth by our society. Relationships with family and friends are altered and strengthened in spite of, or perhaps because of, Harrelson's ability to fully examine all aspects of her journey. Given the subject matter, Between Two Women: Conversations About Love & Relationships could have easily fallen into the realm of salaciousness and tabloid headlines, but Harrelson presents an honest and forthright picture without resorting to cheap thrills.