J. A. Lynett Ribbon in the Snow

Annotation

For Barbara Monroe, the daughter of an abusive, alcoholic mother, growing up in a rural Ontario town is anything but normal. When she is eleven she takes part in a shameful act that sets in motion a train of guilt and violence that will end in murder. As a self-loathing teenager she is thrown out of her family home for assaulting her mother. She flees to Toronto where she dreams of beginning a glamorous new life. After a disastrous start, Barbara finds safety in the gay world of 1960s Toronto. Blossoming into a flamboyant beauty, she struggles with her assertive and ambiguous sexuality. Forever seeking forgiveness, Barbara concludes that killing is easy, but forgetting is difficult indeed.