When they first meet in high school, Rebecca and Alex could hardly be more different: Rebecca is reticent and plain, hiding in a world of books, while Alex is beautiful, brash and determined to become an actress in New York. These two women and their tragically limited choices in 1960s California are the focus of Aria Beth Sloss's debut, Autobiography of Us. The intense connection they form in high school will endure, albeit unsteadily, through romantic betrayal, marriages and a distance of thousands of miles.
Though Alex is wealthy and upper class and Rebecca is barely middle-class, the women's struggles are similar. Alex finds that no one will take her seriously as an actress. Rebecca aspires to become a doctor, taking every opportunity to study biology in secret. It's a dream that is not only contrary to societal expectations, but to those of her parents: Rebecca's mother dreams of her daughter attending debutante balls and becoming a bride. But her hopes are dashed--and the friendship between Alex and Rebecca imperiled--when Rebecca's life takes a disastrous turn.
Autobiography of Us is unflinching in its confrontation of the consequences of a world without choices for women. Even the ravages of the Vietnam War are depicted as a backdrop to the more subtle catastrophes unfolding for the women left at home. Using elegantly wrought turns of phrase, Sloss delves into a wide range of difficult topics, from illegal abortions to closeted homosexuality. At its heart, the novel is a elegy to spirited women in decades past who were forced to silence their dreams and desires. --Ilana Teitelbaum, book reviewer at the Huffington Post