Vital Ties

by Karen Kringle, Karen Kriegle

In her rural Wisconsin community in the 1950s, 20-year-old Clare Lewis's determination to own her own farm is ridiculed as beyond a woman's abilities. No bank will grant her a loan, and her father plans to leave the family dairy farm to her mediocre brother Harry. Unexpectedly, Clare's uncle lends her the money, and she buys a farm directly across from that of Lee Collins, the area's only other woman farmer. As the two women become friends, Clare realizes that she and Lee are sexually attracted to each other. Frightened of her feelings, Clare marries George Hansen. For 14 years, Lee and Clare remain distant. Then a double tragedy George dies in an accident, and Clare learns that her brother Marsh is gay and is dying of AIDS. She turns to Lee for emotional support and ultimately comes to terms with her true feelings for her.

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

Published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Rowan Stomberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay this is going to be a long review with major spoilers. First, I want to get the negatives out of the way. I think the author went too much into the details of the farming industry that didn't always make sense, and I wish the explanations about the farming were a little more concise and didn't just assume everyone knows everything about farming. Other than that, I really liked the book. There was a lot of representation: the open Lesbian, Lee Collins, the Lesbian, Clare Lewes (Hansen) who gets scared of her identity and runs away, and Clare's brother Marsh ending up with AIDS. I know it was important to the story, but damn, did Marsh have to go? I at first thought the subplot of the Grimes family tragedy to be overkill. Did the gruesome accident have to happen? Yes, though I think maybe to a lesser extent. I acknowledge that some kind of accident should have happened, because it brought Stella closer to the main characters in a nice, neighborly way. I appreciated the themes of romance and friendship throughout the novel. The only loose end in my opinion was Clare's relationship with Chad. I wish the book had detailed just a little more what happened with Clare and Chad. Did Chad take over the farm? If not, what did he do? I feel like the author tried, and failed, to make Chad a part of the story and that left him a little robbed in my opinion. Overall I really enjoyed the book.

[Heidi Bakk-Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that's primarily about dairy farming in 1950s-1980s western Wisconsin and the social and family bonds surrounding it. It's also about what it was like to be gay or lesbian living in rural Wisconsin at the time. Not always the best writing, but still a satisfying read about a place and time and subject you don't see often.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this book must be largely autobiographical, based on the brief author sketch and the fact that she seems not to have written anything else in the last 25 years. I thought it got a bit textbook-y in its farming history descriptions, but otherwise I thought it was a very insightful look into the challenging lives of farmers, of women alone working as farmers, and of the GLBT community in the mid- to late-20th century. It also made for an excellent book club discussion. This is the type of book I hope for when picking up a book from a lesbian press.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the greatest writing, but a good story.

[Becko · Rating 4 out of 5]

good story - reread this for the 3rd time