The Fat Lady Sings

Two Jamaican women confined to a British psychiatric ward relate their experiences in Jacqueline Roy's debut, The Fat Lady Sings. Gloria is a lesbian who has been hospitalized for her outbursts of erratic behavior, including singing loudly and hitting a police officer. Merle is tormented by voices in her head and by memories of sexual abuse. Roy does an admirable job of examining the events that have brought the women to this point, as they try to make sense of what has happened to them and of what is to become of their lives. ( June 15)