M. S. Simpson

Kabuki in a G-string M. S. Simpson

Is life what we make it or are we what life makes us? This is the challenge for Roberta Martin, a dyed-in-the-wool Southern Baptist who unexpectedly finds herself facing profound existential challenges; challenges that shake up everything she has ever believed. What does someone do, when she discovers that the only significant male figure in her life is gay? She has always believed that homosexuality was a sin, and while Roberta is among the kindest people on would ever meet, she has strong moral and religious beliefs. How can one shun a beloved family member? Is there a middle path? Is there a legitimate and different religious view? As Roberta struggles with a detonation beneath her previously rock-solid moral foundation, she must at the same time cope with the summer beauty of Paris and falling in love for the first time. Roberta could be anyone, except she isn't ... she is herself. In her mind, she might become no one in the face of God should she accept being gay, at least as she has always understood her beliefs. Roberta's resolution of these challenges forms the backbone of a novel that the Toronto Sun called, "Profoundly moving, laugh-out-loud funny, and perhaps the best look at the complexities of diversity written this year."