List of All Possible Desires (The Rainey Royal Cycle)
This, the third of the Rainey Royal Cycle of novel-in-stories, is primarily focused on Rainey herself coming of age in New York in the 1970s and 1980s. Her environment is one of music, sex, drugs in a townhouse open to almost anyone; the only rule is ‘Don’t touch the piano.’ Throughout the chaos Rainey moves towards her calling as an artist, witnessing kindness and casual cruelty, seeing weakness and developing her own personal and artistic strength. Surrounding her are friends and siblings, each with their own stories, their own music, acquisitiveness and ideas of artistic expression. This novel has thirteen individual stories, each its own chapter connected, sometimes loosely, with the flow of the central characters and their stories. Characterization is the strength of this novel despite its vividly portrayed unorthodox and eccentric setting. Rainey herself is fully developed as an emotionally damaged young woman, relating to her friends and family in unexpected ways.
The author has a sharply observant eye and fine accuracy of expression. Together these lift what might have been a merely sensational lifestyle surrounding a coming-of-age tale into a poignant revelation of youthful ideals and struggles. Rainey Royal, full of talent, complexities and desires seems likely to become one of the classic characters of 20th century fiction.
