Janet Hobhouse's second novel from 1983, is set in a contemporaneous New York of all-night discos and easy sex but not yet of HIV and AIDS. The novel pre-dates the Springsteen song.
Gabriella and Morgan Callagher after six years of marriage are facing an uncertain future. Differing views on how they want to live are causing widening gaps in their relationship. Gabriella wants to dance all night with their gay friends, and bluff her way through work during the day; while Morgan is starting to take his career more seriously and watches his peers starting families and moving out of the city. Their lives begin to move on parallel lines; Claudio (Gabriella's guide to the gay New York scene) and then Kate ( a friend facing divorce) move into their apartment. Do the Callaghers' even want to save their marriage?
Janet Hobhouse died fairly young and only wrote a few books. I found this novel completely involving. Difficult subject matter to make so compelling. It is sharp and intelligent about issues the characters themselves find it hard to articulate, and I found myself liking and despising both Gabriella and Morgan in turn. Worth reading but don't expect a tidy, clear cut ending. ( )