Cecile: Stories

These 19 first-person stories form an insightful narrative that chronicles the daily events and small epiphanies in the relationship of a lesbian couple with a young son. The book follows the nameless protagonist's sometimes painful reflections on her past before meeting Cecile; her inner journey to self-acceptance; and her outer journey from lush Florida to the earthquake-stricken Bay Area to the urban desperation of New York City. Robson's ( Eye of a Hurricane ) writing is spare and graceful, with wonderfully original sparks of sarcasm and wit (``the land looks burnt, as if by an encounter with a terrible hairdresser'') sprinkled liberally throughout. The early Florida stories are the strongest: ``The Room(s)'' in which the narrator glories in ``the perfect universe'' of the bedroom she and Cecile have created; ``Minneapolis, Minnesota and Monogamy'' and ``Learning to Read,'' which explore the narrator's and her family's stances in regard to aspects of contemporary lesbian life and culture. Some of the shorter stories are not as fully developed or as focused as they might be, but this does not mar the appeal of this intelligent, lively volume. (Nov.)