Gillian Hanscombe combines the epistolary novel form, popu-

larized in the eighteenth century, with an exploration of many of

the vital lesbian and feminist issues of our day - monogamy,

communal living, living with men, sexual relations with men,

racism, lesbian motherhood, boy children in the lesbian commu-

nity, the place of love in a radical movement. She succeeds both

in involving the readers in the emotional lives of her characters

and demanding of the readers a serious re-examination of their

beliefs about the sorts of lives lesbians and feminists ought to be

living.