Bruised fruit

Anna Livia's astringently humorous, no-holds-barred novel, Bruised Fruit, is the story of British Caroline, lesbian escapee from an abusive relationship; Sydney, dainty hermaphrodite with a Southern drawl; and Patti, a bisexual with a trust fund who inexorably, it seems, kills every man she sleeps with. These three, along with a tantalizing array of minor characters, are thrown together in San Francisco, each in search of someone to tell his or her -- or in the case of Sydney, his and her -- secrets to. When fate gathers them at the home of Ella Weissman, a feminist therapist whose house is her significant other, the intertwined tale of their loves, fears, and confusions sinuously unfolds. Caroline is continually shocked by exposure to her own "tales of the city". Sydney feels compelled, once and for all, to pick a gender. Patti wants to be sexually attractive without giving in to everyone else's desire...and its negative effects.