The Talking Room reflects an apocalyptic vision of the late 20th century, seen through the eyes of a pregnant 13 year old who may not be a test tube baby. The Lesbian relationshop between the mother J—wild, lost, beautiful—and competent Aunt V, a business woman, reveals itself to the reader as "the talking room" becomes the sounding board for the endless fights, endless reconciliations. V's desperate search for the beloved J through the nights of waterfront bars is lightened by wildly comic excursions reminiscent of our great American humorists. With wit, poetic clarity and compassion, Marianne Hauser explores the paradoxes of our age—need for love yet flight from love, search for self yet self-destruction—a dilema shared alike by today's heterosexual and homosexual world. The author's multifaceted view defies dogma or simplification as her characters draw us into their turbulent and deeply human drama.

"...the most insanely perfect novel I have experienced in...20 years. Vladimir Nabokov, roll over."

—Steve Katz