Lovers' Choice

Lover's Choice takes the reader on short trips into the lives of eleven different women. Through her stories, Becky Birtha creates a sense of continuity by weaving strength, passion, pain, and ingenuity into each character. Ms. Moses makes clear that the government doesn't really help the poor: "Ain't no reason for you to be gaping at me. I pay my taxes, just like everyone else." Sahara "never wanted a man...Sometimes it seems she has spent her whole life finding ways to get close to other people's children." Camped out under the stars, she thinks back over those children and opens her heart to yet another one. Maurie questions her taste in women:"White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. The Bourgeoisie. What the hell was she doing in love with someone...like that?" And Johnnieruth, who can ride her bike as fast as the boys and resents her mother trying to rein her in because she's a girl, watches in a park as two women greet each other with a kiss on the lips. For the first time, she sees herself mirrored.