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AGAINST THE WIND Gwynne Forster Genesis Press November 1999 (5) Wayne Jordan |
RIC Award of Excellence |
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PLOT SYNOPSIS: |
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REVIEW: |
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Two books in two months from Gwynne Forster is a perfect pre-Christmas gift, and if you have a
friend who loves books, last month’s FOOLS RUSH IN
and this month’s AGAINST THE WIND is the perfect
gift. There is so much about AGAINST
THE WIND that makes it an outstanding
achievement. Like with FOOLS
RUSH IN and all her previous books, Ms.
Forster’s forté is the complex characters she creates.
Ms. Forster delves deep into the minds of her protagonists, revealing
every nuance of their personality, peeling every layer away until they stand
before the reader exposed and vulnerable. In AGAINST
THE WIND, it is Ms. Forster’s hero whose very
soul is bared. There is something special about Jordan Saber—a man who’s
gentle, understanding, and who knows what he wants in life—Leslie Collins. When Leslie turns up on his ranch
looking for a job, Jordan realizes that something is wrong with the beautiful
black woman. He offers her a job,
and slowly grows to love the sad, terrified woman.
He realized that she is afraid to love, and with gentle hands, he wins
her trust and love. Jordan’s
courtship of Leslie is at times painful, even for the reader, as he gives
himself unconditionally to her, allowing her to see the extent of his love.
When they make love for the first time, Jordan is tender and considerate,
but we also see his selflessness and feel the intensity of his love: He pushed gently, and she clutched at him, wrapping her legs around his hips and pushing herself up to him. Tears of joy streamed from her eyes when, at last, she held him within her body. He could hardly stand it. If he had known what awaited him, he would have gone mad wanting it. Almost immediately, he felt the sweet quivering of her hot velvet sheath. Forget it, he told himself. This is not for you. It’s for her. Get hold off yourself. Leslie, too, is an interesting, but complex character study. Her refusal to tell Jordan her story annoyed me at first, but what the reader must recognize is that this is a woman who was almost raped, and it is realistic for her not to easily trust again. Along with this, she fights her attraction to Jordan, not only because he is white, but because he’s a man. Despite this aspect of Leslie’s character, she is definitely not a weak heroine, and her need to be independent and academically successful shows her strength of character. Ms. Forster also deals with the question of interracial relationships, thought this at no time overwhelms the romance. Ms. Forster’s message, however, is quite clear. At the end of the book, even the critics, like Julia and Ossie, realize that love is more important that the color of one’s skin. But Ms. Forster doesn’t stop there. She adds a few vivid secondary characters, and AGAINST THE WIND is complete, perfect. I’ve added it, not only to my list of the best books of 1999, but to my list of the all-time best of romantic fiction. With this consistent excellence, Ms. Forster has been added to my list of must-read authors. I wonder what she has in store for the new millennium. |
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wayne@romanceincolor.net (14th December 1999) |
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