Author: Jennifer Harris

Publisher: Harrington Park Press

ISBN: 978-1-56023-629-0

Jennifer Harris has been a successful poet, having had her poetry featured in several national magazines from the New York Quarterly to Swerve. Jennifer founded and directed a three-year reading series at The Art Institute of Chicago. Amongst these many successes, she became the editor of a small literary magazine called JackLeg Press. She was also a finalist in FourWay Books national book contest.

Ms Harris was a student at the University of Arizona and finished her MFA in writing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Jennifer has spent the past five years helping the Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery.

Pink is a very feminine novel about the dreams and thoughts of an anonymous lesbian writer living in America. She dreams about having her very own “little pink” book published right from the front of its cover to the very last word.  Everything about this novel has to be “pink” from the blushing pink forget-me-nots, to the pink setting sun. Pink is the very essence of one woman’s dream.

With these thoughts she covers all kinds of different scenarios for her future book. From it hitting the shelves of all the high street book stores, to having frequent phones calls with film director, Mr Spielberg.

This character is so real and wrapped up in her own little imaginary book, I was instantly hooked. We follow her dreams as she invents more and more outcomes for her book in one of them we even see her appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show as the very talented author of “Pink”.

We see how this character’s future dreams unravel and marvel with her as her book is reviewed. The author has cleverly interwoven another side of this fantastic storyline where the character and the title of her book finally become accepted as a gay symbol and are met with much approval. Well that is apart from this writer’s mom and dad, who on hearing their daughter is gay, turn  around and catch the next flight home. A rather funny picture I thought.

I loved the book, Pink, (also the name of the character’s potential book in the novel) and laughed, smiled, cried and fanaticised along with the heroine till the very last page.

Pink is something that is very different from the usual hype. It is so refreshing to actually find a book that has another angle to the gay/lesbian scene. The author also uses her poetic ability throughout this very ‘pink’ book.

I feel certain that this is one of those novels that will find itself a big fan base, especially with covering gay and lesbian rights. It looks like Jennifer Harris has a good writing career ahead of her so place this book on your bedside table or pop it in your handbag. Definitely worth a read even if you’re not gay yourself.

The above review was contributed by: Jessica Roberts: Jessica has been a book reviewer for a newspaper and a national women's magazine and is working on a novel.