The Novels of Lisa Alther

Three wise and witty novels of the sixties, sexuality, and the South by a New York Times–bestselling “strong, salty, original talent” (Doris Lessing). Kinflicks: “An ambitious, funny, lucid and unfailingly honest” coming-of-age novel set in the 1960s American South (The New Yorker). Tart-tongued Tennessean Ginny Babcock seems to live in an idyllic world—and her mother documents every moment for the family’s home movies. But mother’s “kinflicks” don’t capture everything about Ginny. Not by a long shot. Original Sins: In this “thoroughly endearing” novel, Sally, Emily, Jed, Raymond, and Donny are friends who dream big in rural Tennessee (Chicago Tribune). But the road to reality isn’t quite what they imagined. Some take the safe route; others drift away to reconsider their roots and traditions; and for Donny, an African American, fulfilling dreams is all about resilience. In the ever-shifting landscape of the 1950s and ’60s, they grow up, grow apart, and have every good intention of coming back together. Five Minutes in Heaven: Raised in the Tennessee hills in the 1950s, Jude grows into a young woman who finds her soul mate in her new neighbor Molly. But when age and social convention intervene, she ventures north to pursue all that sixties New York has to offer—including a transitional comfort with a man in the midst of his own sexual discovery. With an endearing heroine and a smart consideration of what it means to love—and be loved—this coming-of-age novel is “a little bit of heaven” (Rita Mae Brown).