I AM a Woman

A novel written in the mid-20th century. The story follows Laura, a young woman who flees a domineering father for New York, where she seeks work, a home, and a sense of self while wrestling with forbidden desire. Her growing attachment to her beautiful roommate Marcie, the disruptive visits of Marcie’s ex-husband Burr, and the presence of a sharp, sympathetic gay friend shape a candid exploration of identity and longing. The opening of the novel shows Laura breaking from her harsh, self-righteous father in Chicago—haunted by family tragedy—and arriving in New York to rebuild her life. She lands a temporary secretarial job in a radiologist’s office and moves into a shabby penthouse with Marcie, a charming, impulsive divorcée still entangled with her volatile ex, Burr. As Laura quietly guards her attraction to Marcie, a double date takes them to a Greenwich Village bar where Laura recognizes a world that mirrors her own hidden self. A late-night near-kiss is interrupted, and soon after, Burr’s friend Jack takes Laura out and gently but bluntly tells her he knows she’s gay—and that he is too—warning her about the risks of falling for a roommate as he begins to share his own cautionary story.