But change is not easy, and it's not quite, as her first female lover puts it, 'only sex.' Navigating lesbian poetry readings, karate classes, night school, new career moves, and endless taxi fares, Cath eventually settles on Maggie, a nurse, and on a job in social work. It is there that she discovers other lives are not straightforward or repairable. When her father's medical crisis propels her back to her family, she must fully come to grips with what she has made of herself and learn how to integrate her new life with the lives of those around her.
Moving and funny, blending strength of character with a distinctive lightness of touch, "Trip Sheets" meticulously details the pieces of a life falling into a new pattern. Much more than a simple coming-out tale, Ellen Hawley's debut is ultimately about finding just the right touch with which to link ourselves with those we love.
