I can't begin to describe how much I love this author and her work. Trully a classic.

A fascinating she/she/he said of a marriage falling apart and falling in love.

This book definitely is not the serene, pleasantly building romantic tension of Forrest’s most iconic novel, “Curious Wine”. Instead, “An Emergence of Green” hurts, often. It’s angering, mostly because of the power Paul Blake wields over Carolyn Blake, his wife, as well as Val Hunter, a character he meets only once before hating her and isn’t related to in anyway. His power is wielded carefully throughout the story, until it bursts like the reader can painfully anticipate the entire time. The relationship between Val & Carolyn is lovely and ultimately prevailing, but the constant theme weaving through the story is the struggle of Paul’s inner struggles and how he uses them to justify his abhorrent power. I would have perhaps been more invited by this book had the author focused more on the relationship between Val & Carolyn, more of the inner world of Carolyn, and less on the sociopathy of Paul Blake, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t a realistic exploration of the true darkness of toxic masculinity.

Heart wrenching

From beginning to end my heart felt raw and exposed. The detail in character description and thoughts were so descriptive, I felt the story.

This was my first…

This was my introduction into lesbian fiction and it was the best first welcoming into a genre that I love. Although I am not a lesbian, it helped me with my feelings for women. I am bisexual. The love affair between Carolyn and Val is how it happened to me. A friend that opened up her feelings to me, it how it all began. It helped me make sense of all those confusing feelings I had about girls/women since I was about 11 years old. This story also mirrors my marriage to a man. It shocked me how the author captured what goes through a man’s mind such as Paul. I had one of those and they can be quite brutal. My life paralleled Carolyn’s in the same way. I still dated men afterwards. But I knew year by year that was changing until I no longer dated men. What I was looking for, in completeness, I found could only come from another woman. This book shows just how a woman can get under your skin. It changes everything and everyone. I am so much happier in life with that ultimate change. Am I still attracted to men? Yes. But do I have any romantic interest? No. Do I have any sexual interest? Not at all.

A lot has changed since this was written, thankfully.

A wonderfully written book about coming in to your own sexuality back in the 80's.

This is a book whose prose is kept constant and freely flowing to just over half of its content.
The problem arises the author (as always) when the emotion itself the wound just after both players have sex. It is a very good book, but from there begins a decline of prose, the story itself.
There is some violence included. As for the marital argument, it did not seem to give him a closure to the issue, but rather something closer to procrastinate and nothing else.
I enjoyed a lot BEFORE reaching the part that everyone wants to read.

The first 100 pages or so, I enjoyed getting to know the characters. It lost me a little when Paul Blake started becoming a classic toxic male, almost to the point of cheesy. There were nuggets of exciting moments but it seems a little outdated for the 2020 thirty something crowd.

Some lovely use of language in this book, but certain elements of the plot didn't really withstand the test of time. I enjoyed that the story was mostly driven by the development of the relationships between the characters, but there were certain elements that could have been explored with more depth and nuance, particularly how Val and Carolyn feel about themselves and each other in relation to committing/enabling adultery. Still, the sex scenes were well-written, and I enjoyed that both women were new to lesbian relationships but in different ways. I'm glad that I read this book, but I probably won't keep my copy around the house for potential future re-reading.

A classic. One of the first books I read when I came out in...'86, '87? Can't even remember now, but I do know that this was one of the better books available at the time.

This book was well written.
Personal note: I have issues with books where the husbands are made out to be evil when the book is supposed to be a romance novel. I can't really enjoy the love story when I'm just really hoping that he doesn't hurt her. Yes, I know these things happen in life but I was just looking for a nice easy read and there was a lot of anger and hatred in this book. There are also some trigger warnings if this is an issue for anyone.