From Publishers Weekly
A woman fights to recover from old trauma and recent tragedy in Hill's (An Ordinary Woman) overwrought and sometimes overwritten novel. Six months after the car crash that killed her husband and daughter, documentary filmmaker Rayne Holland lies, mute, in a Savannah, Ga., mental hospital, recovering from a suicide attempt. Rayne's lifelong friend, Gayle Davis, tries to care for her, even as she experiences her own guilt, as well as a fascination with Rayne that strains her marriage. Thanks to therapy with psychologist Pauline Davis and a nascent friendship with hospital landscaper Robert Parrish, Rayne begins to improve, but her difficult father, William Mercer, remains curiously uninterested in her recovery. Rayne's friends tackle their own demons: Gayle struggles with feelings of inadequacy, while Robert harbors bitterness toward his long-absent father. When Pauline learns that Rayne is scheduled for electroshock therapy, she smuggles Rayne from the hospital; Gayle agrees to hide her friend, knowing this may damage the fragile peace she's recently established with her husband. When Rayne decides to confront William, he admits a terrible truth, and Rayne gains an unexpected ally in her stepmother. However, only after Rayne and Gayle have a long-overdue emotional exchange is Rayne's healing complete. Hill's characters have frustratingly little insight into their motives, and the resolution of terrible traumas comes too easily. Fans of the Essence bestselling author might enjoy this offering, but newcomers may find the makings of a made-for- television movie.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Hill has written a powerful story about rape and incest and the horrible emotional and psychological effects they have on the victims and perpetrators. Rayne Holland is a beautiful woman with a haunting childhood. Her father blames Rayne for her mother's death and forces his affections on her. To deal with the trauma of the rape, Rayne develops another personality who is stronger and more capable of handling the abuse, hurt, and betrayal. Her best friend, Gayle--who is insanely jealous and envious of Rayne's beauty and seemingly perfect life--aspires to have Rayne's life. After a tragic accident, Rayne attempts suicide and is admitted to a mental hospital. Her psychologist, Pauline, realizes early in the treatment that she and Rayne have similar struggles, and she takes great personal risks to ensure that Rayne gets proper medical attention. The struggle that these three woman face in dealing with their pasts and finding healing for their futures is so poignant. Rayne's recovery will free them all from their demons. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
In My Bedroom FROM THE PUBLISHER
Rayne Holland is a woman who appears to have it all: a handsome, successful husband, a beautiful five-year-old daughter, and a rapidly rising film career. What everyone doesn't realize is that behind closed doors, the picture is not so perfect. And in the recesses of Rayne's mind she harbors a dark past that even she is unaware of. Then tragedy strikes and Rayne slowly discovers that the story of her life is just beginning and nothing and no one are as they seem...
Gayle has been Rayne's best friend for years and always secretly wished that her life was more like Rayne's, from Rayne's wonderful husband to her burgeoning success. Gayle had been the one to introduce Paul to Rayne and a small part of her still regretted the day. Although Gayle married a good man and has a good life, she can't help feeling that the grass may be greener on the other side. Out of a deep sense of guilt, Gayle tries to help Rayne along the road to recovery, even at the expense of her own marriage . . .
Pauline, Rayne's psychologist, found herself drawn to the lovely woman from the moment they met. For in Rayne, she sees parts of herself, disturbing similarities and secret pains. Faced with the most daunting case of her career, Pauline must walk the thin line of medical ethics knowing that if she saves Rayne, she may lose everything but if she takes the risk she may save herself as well and unlock the secrets that would free them all.
Told with Donna Hill's grace, wit and uncompromising honesty, this novel explores the strength, passion, hope and healing of three extraordinary women.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
A woman fights to recover from old trauma and recent tragedy in Hill's (An Ordinary Woman) overwrought and sometimes overwritten novel. Six months after the car crash that killed her husband and daughter, documentary filmmaker Rayne Holland lies, mute, in a Savannah, Ga., mental hospital, recovering from a suicide attempt. Rayne's lifelong friend, Gayle Davis, tries to care for her, even as she experiences her own guilt, as well as a fascination with Rayne that strains her marriage. Thanks to therapy with psychologist Pauline Davis and a nascent friendship with hospital landscaper Robert Parrish, Rayne begins to improve, but her difficult father, William Mercer, remains curiously uninterested in her recovery. Rayne's friends tackle their own demons: Gayle struggles with feelings of inadequacy, while Robert harbors bitterness toward his long-absent father. When Pauline learns that Rayne is scheduled for electroshock therapy, she smuggles Rayne from the hospital; Gayle agrees to hide her friend, knowing this may damage the fragile peace she's recently established with her husband. When Rayne decides to confront William, he admits a terrible truth, and Rayne gains an unexpected ally in her stepmother. However, only after Rayne and Gayle have a long-overdue emotional exchange is Rayne's healing complete. Hill's characters have frustratingly little insight into their motives, and the resolution of terrible traumas comes too easily. Fans of the Essence bestselling author might enjoy this offering, but newcomers may find the makings of a made-for- television movie. (Jan. 21) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
A victim of incest, filmmaker Rayne Holland has lost her husband and daughter in a car accident. But this compelling novel by Hill (An Ordinary Woman) focuses on the two women with the greatest effect on Rayne: her psychologist and the best friend who betrayed her by sleeping with her late husband. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Toxic memories, mental illness, painful recovery. Rayne Holland is a "wonderful, caring person with a brilliant filmmaking career ahead of her." Her emotionally wrenching documentary on incest victims garnered stellar reviews and important awards. Her marriage to handsome Paul has some problems-more on that later-but she loves her five-year-old daughter Desiree and her life in Savannah, Georgia, among the African-American intellectual elite. Lately, though, Rayne has been moody, troubled by nameless fears and a strange distractedness. And she's not interested in sex, to Paul's dismay. After she alone survives the car crash that kills her husband and daughter, she tries to kill herself and winds up in a mental institution. Suicidal, mute with shock, emotionally withdrawn-well, maybe she can recover in this safe haven, paid for by a seemingly limitless insurance plan. There is no shouting in this distinctly unreal haven, no lunatics running about in tattered gowns-in fact, none of that crazy-folks mess anywhere. Decorous patients stroll the beautifully landscaped paths, accompanied by kindly doctors. But why, asks her lifelong friend Gayle, won't she speak? These things take time, replies Pauline Dennis, a compassionate psychologist right out of decades of TV dramas written for women, as she smoothes her immaculately starched white smock, musing silently on the powerful connection she feels to her new patient. Her interviews with Rayne's family begin to uncover various secrets. There is Seething Resentment over Paul's clandestine affair with Gayle, and Deep-Seated Guilt over her mother's early death. There's even Emotional Neglect and an Indifferent Father-but Dr. Dennis has a feelingthere's Something More. And a Terrible Secret comes to light: Rayne is an incest victim herself, sexually assaulted by her uncle. Will she ever find closure and heal the wounds of the past? Well-meaning but wooden drama from Hill (An Ordinary Woman, 2002, etc.).
Art & Photography
Book Info
