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Review by Arlene Germain
UnderCover by Laurinda D. Brown

Laurinda D. Brown’s novel, UnderCover, tells the story of Chris Desmereaux, a professional woman who has recently survived a violently tempestuous relationship. While surfing the net and attempting to get her life back on track, she meets Amil, a doctor who is soon to marry a successful entrepreneur. The immediate friendship between these two women begins to develop into something more without their having actually met. Then, when Chris and Amil actually meet by chance at a business meeting, they realize their attraction goes beyond mere words on a computer screen. Prior to this event, Chris’ friend Nathaniel, a former drag queen, has put his past behind him and now has assumed the role of loving husband to Chris’ sister. However, when financial problems arise, Nathaniel resumes his former occupation and must now come to terms with his sexuality. The lives of these people entwine and overlap until, inevitably, each will discover what genuine love, acceptance, and compassion truly are.

Brown has written an unusual opening for this novel, a scene in a drag club. Nathaniel’s lover, Patrick, has decided to honor a promise to his dying mother and is giving his life over to God. Hurt and confused, Nathaniel accepts this decision and walks away from Patrick and his performing career. The story then moves forward five years, and the reader is privy to the chat room conversation between Chris and Amil. These two brief vignettes manage to pull the reader into the plot and definitely makes one want to discover more about these people. It is always rewarding to see some ingenuity in story construction, and the initial pages of this novel reflect that.

The main characters are well developed and mostly credible in both their actions and dialogue. One can sense the anxiety and uncertainty each has experienced. The winning secondary characters are also written well, and the reader is easily engaged in their subplots. This reader found the Nathaniel storyline to be somewhat more captivating. At times Chris tends to over verbalize and display less than ideal traits, but one can overlook this as it does not affect the storytelling in any major way. To breathe life into the characters on the page, the author must create a dilemma, a problematic situation which will propel the narrative and thereby create within the reader a need to learn more. Brown achieves this through the writing of an absorbing and entertaining scheme. Her characters grow, expand, fail yet again, and accept others and themselves in a credible and intriguing progression.

Both explicit and implicit themes are dealt with in UnderCover. Understanding the importance of one’s past, being true to oneself, tolerance, if not acceptance, of others and their ideologies, and recognition of both sincere and faithful love are dealt with, not through any proselytizing on the part of the author, but through the actions and nuances of speech. Amil’s realization of where her future should be and with whom is conducted in a subtle and affecting fashion.

The tone of this novel is quite different from Brown’s previous work, Fire & Brimstone. There is a maturity of writing and characterization not quite as evident in the latter. The overall story is much more compelling and thought-provoking. The evolution of Chris is well worth waiting for; she is a much more sympathetic figure here. One can care more deeply about a positive outcome developing for her. There appears to be a less vociferous snarl in her attitude and actions. This reader found it much easier to empathize with a more mature Chris.

UnderCover is a novel which will provide several hours of both entertaining and attentive reading; it is a novel which could certainly provoke serious discussion. Brown has stated that she writes about life and not lifestyles. This novel creates a portrait of people in crisis, of people with real hopes and aspirations, and of people who want to do the right thing even at the expense of others. Isn’t that what life really is?

ARLENE GERMAIN is currently a book reviewer for the OutLook Press, Lambda Book Report, the Midwest Book Review, the Independent Gay Writer, the Golden Crown Literary Society newsletter, The Crown, and the JustAboutWrite.com Newsletter/e-zine. She is also a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. A former English teacher who resides in Massachusetts with her partner and two dogs, Arlene enjoys travel, music, film and theater, writing poetry, golf, and the beach. Feel free to drop her an email.

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