Ellen Gilchrist

Although during one time period I read most or maybe all of Ellen Gilchrist's novels, I hadn't read any for many years, until a couple of weeks ago, just before my trip to Boston, when I picked up a paperback copy of "Sarah Conley" (Little, Brown, 1997). As I read it on the airplane, my mental image of an Ellen Gilchrist typical main character came rushing back to me. The character of Sarah Conley embodies the quintessential Gilchrist woman: headstrong, bold, quirky, insecure, alternating in almost whiplash fashion between fearlessness and crippling fear. She is rooted in the South but has sometimes escaped to the North, is deeply connected to but often rebels against her family and its demands, gets involved in multiple messy relationships, and is predictable in her unpredictability. I enjoy reading about her and at the same time sometimes get immensely annoyed at her. I am never sure whether I am meant to admire her, pity her, identify with her, or dislike her. However, she is always intriguing to read about, and the novels she "stars" in (Gilchrist novels are mostly one-women shows) are never boring. And after all, most of us are as full of contradictions as Gilchrist's women are.