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The Meadowlark Sings

"A strong America ... A STRAIGHT America"— ???

The year is 2008, and the great earthquake that had been predicted for decades hit California. Approximately 40 miles east of the coastline, the earthquake created a chasm that quickly filled with the raging waters from the Pacific. A piece of land that was once the west coast of California was now separated from the mainland of the United States by the newly formed body of water. An island had been born.

America's right-wing elite formed a plan: the newly created island would be a modern gulag— a place to which sexual undesirables would be shipped, never (they hoped) to be heard from again. There would be no relationship between the new island and the United States; such was the strength of the "righteous" fear of homosexuality.

By 2112, the religious right has affected an awful change in America's moral climate. The United States has become a place where any gay or lesbian adult is given a clear choice: conform to new, viciously repressive sexuality laws, or— exile. And for the youngest citizens, there is no choice. Any child found to carry the newly discovered and much-feared "gay gene" in his or her DNA is put on a ship before reaching three years of age— banished, forever, from US shores.

But they forgot that gays and lesbians have brains, skills, and passion. On their island they built a new country, and called it Cali. In the gorgeous Southern California climate they pooled their resources, shared their knowledge and skills, learned to live together. And the best of them worked to form a new government— a society where all citizens of the new nation lived in freedom, withoutoppression, where productivity was rewarded and participation was encouraged. Quite naturally, human ingenuity, unfettered, brought progress. When it became known that citizens of Cali are living longer, healthier lives than citizens of most countries, the rest of the world wanted to know why. And because of world interest, for the first time, a delegate from Cali was invited to participate in an international conference on aging, held in New York City.

Meet Cara Romero— the youngest member of Cali's Prime Minister's cabinet. Chosen for her winning combination of youthful enthusiasm, expertise in the field of aging, and political savvy, Cara— 32, blond, and quite attractive— departs on an unforgettable journey no one from her country has ever made: to a hostile United States, on a mission to share knowledge (but with a hidden agenda of her own). In the States, she meets Jessica Mooran, the sultry, dark-haired, genetically "straight" daughter of the President, and the two women fall in love. How can this be? And what has become of the American woman who was once the great love of Cali's Prime Minister, Miriam Ekstrom? Cara must discover all of this, and more, before time runs out, in The Meadowlark Sings.

"What if they gave us our own country, and everybody went? The Meadowlark Sings is a delicious study in what if it were ours to run things the right way. The characters are people you'd like to invite over for dinner. The plot will keep you turning the pages 'til just before the alarm clock is ready to tell you to get out of bed and stop reading for heaven's sake! Meadowlark is lush, fully developed and very well crafted. I loved it!" — Shelly Roberts, Author of Baby Dykes

"TRULY A PAGE-TURNER ... IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT DOWN. There is spectacular suspense and a plot that never stops twisting. I loved it so much that I used it in an informal reading group of young lesbians at my Center. This is an outstanding read that popped my buttons with pride." — Dr. Ronni Sanlo, Director, UCLA Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Campus Resource Center

  • Format
  • paperback
  • Pages
  • 188
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9781560235750
  • Genres
  • fiction, lgbt
  • Release date
  • 2006