Dreaming Under a Ton of Lizards

First published in 1988 by Silverleaf Press as Three Glasses of Wine Have Been Removed from This Story, this incisive novel follows smart, passionate and alcoholic Olivia Bell as she comes to terms with her lesbian identity, lost loves and a lifelong dependence on booze. In 1980s Oregon, Olivia and her lover, Brooke, are aspiring writers whose stormy relationship is troubled and mediated by their heavy drinking. They painfully separate when ambitious Brooke moves to San Francisco and Olivia, frightened of the city, takes a job as caretaker for a cottage on the coast. Lonely in the new town, Olivia is visited in her dreams by ""the woman in the pale green dress""--the symbolic specter representing her addiction. Trying to find the courage to stop drinking, Olivia revisits her painful past: her intense teenage friendship with the troubled daughter of an alcoholic; her ex-husband, a self-destructive boozer who introduced Olivia to alcohol; her first lesbian lover, whose tolerance of Olivia's inebriation eventually waned. Olivia and Brooke reunite in San Francisco, but a bleak Christmas and one too many sodden nights splits them up for good. Luckily, Olivia finds Kathleen, a recovering alcoholic, who forces her to confront her addiction. Other sober friends who encourage Olivia to dry out come off as preachy and overzealous, but this moralizing is gentle, earnest and forgivable. On the whole, Michener's characters are multifaceted and fresh, and her love scenes, settings and emotional landscapes are studded with down-to-earth details that ring true. The sincere, sensitive exploration of alcoholism and lesbian life merges with a genuine love story that will find grateful readers. (Oct.)