A review of "She Walks In Beauty" by Nicole Conn

^{'I see all the scenes spinning about like european cinema'. I'm with Nicole Conn's narrator, Spencer Atwood, on this one. She Walks in Beauty is a multi-faceted exploration of love, desire, expectation, power and abuse, told through complex layers of character, time and literary style.}

^{I found it initially dizzying to follow the poetic musings and memories of Spencer, chopping rapidly between past and present tense, time and place. We're in a cave (literal or metaphorical?), then in LA - but that's a memory - go further back to revisit a defining relationship - intersperse with snippets of therapy sessions - now let's cut to the 1920s... There is a bit of work for the reader to do to get their bearings in this novel, but once you're in, it's captivating. I went from wondering if it was all a bit structurally ambitious to realising just how skilled Conn is at writing for the page yet pre-empting the transfer to screen. If this is unconscious, then her background in film has served her well by osmosis!}

^{This is a novel that reads so cinematically that it's not hard to imagine how it could translate to screen. Yet it isn't written like a screenplay either - it has the depth of a novel but all of Spencer's internal analysis happens through action - and through the themes of the novel Cynara, that her character writes. In this sense, the novel shouldn't suffer the fate of many film adaptations, which lose subtlety in visual translation, or have to rely on phoney voice overs to convey thought.}

^{The characters themselves are complex and intriguing. Spencer's life and feelings about herself are exorcised and objectified through her creation of the character and life of Byron Harrington. Both Spencer and Byron possess an incomplete self-awareness, driven by survival, when we first encounter them. Throughout their interwoven stories, both discover the ability to be vulnerable without being a victim, and realise that an inability to lay themselves bare is a barrier to loving and being loved.}

^{Relationships between women are neither presented as incidental or central to the novel as a whole, in that they don't eclipse the characters of Spencer and Byron themselves, or prevent other central family and friend relationships (enhancing or abusive) from being played out fully. However, the relationships that both characters have with women are pivotal and central to each of their lives and to the development of their characters. What I liked about the way these relationships unfold is that they are varied, paradoxical and incite different reactions in each character at different times in the novel. This makes them much more three dimensional than a linear coming out story, tale of unrequited angst, tragedy, or implausibly easy romance, which, let's face it, are the usual categories of 'lesbian cinema'. This is a story of women as fully human, with all the messiness and emotional range that this brings.}

^{I could imagine this novel being portrayed as a film pretty much as it is, but there are no doubt countless possibilities as to how it could be re-arranged for the screen. I don't know what the end result will be, but I know I can't wait to see it.}

More info on the NEWS pages about how you can apply on Pink Lobster Dating to be in the movie!