Fiction Monday: High Dive by Cynthia Tyler

I’m back!

I do so apologize for the lack of review posts over the last several days. My gut feeling is though, judging by the traffic, most of you had better things to do anyway. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Now, back to books!

Today, I chose the latest offering from lesbian author Cynthia Tyler, High Dive, published by CreateSpace in September of this year. Tyler lives in L.A. with her partner and, surprise, this book is set in L.A. and it’s based on a very L.A. premise. Teachers and writing coaches always say, “write what you know”. Tyler does and she does it very convincingly.

Here is the publishers book description:

What would you do if you lost a high-paying job, your lover, your home, and even your tricked-out status ride all at once? That’s exactly what happens to 29-year-old Sara Wing, player in the subprime mortgage lending industry, whose life is turned inside out in the space of forty-eight hours when the Southern California housing bubble bursts and she goes from a power position to pool cleaner. Along the way Sara meets and is challenged by a cast of characters from Los Angeles’ diverse community of haves and have-nots. Her experiences capture the invisible, ever-shifting boundary between hope and despair. Peppered with memorable personalities–gay street artists Ritchie and Henry, ill-tempered bad-asses Puff and Super Dave, and an older, wealthy widow who wants to “take care” of Sara–the novel is at once funny, realistic, and compassionate. There is depth and beauty to this contemporary tale of setbacks, self-discovery, and triumph, as Sara Wing, former moneymaker and current pool peon, begins painting a new life–and what a colorful life it is!

Here we have a true case of art imitating life. But, don’t think for a minute that this will be a boring or depressing read given the situation of the main character, Sara. This story is far from it. You get to follow Sara on her journey from “it’s all about me” to the self aware “this isn’t about me at all” in a fast (very fast) and fun romp through the other side of life in L.A., what I would term the “real” side for the vast majority of us.

If you read any other reviews of this book, you’ll see a couple of others panning this work for it’s pacing…i.e., a lot of the novel happens over the space of a day. Suspend your reality for a day while you read this. Or, if it helps you, ignore indications things happened on the same day. You’ll still enjoy the story.

I hadn’t read any of Cynthia Tyler’s work before. She has talent. I really liked this and I look forward to reading her other books.