Jericho Paperback – September 1, 2011

This is far more than a lesbian romance. This is a well developed story with great characters and small town drama. While Syd and Maddie are the main characters, there is a whole drama behind them.Families with joys troubles and sorrows. This story drew me in and wouldn't let me go.Some small bits seemed to be too good to be true, but that's what reading is, after all. A suspension of belief and buying into the lives of the people. It gives us hope to think that there are special people out there, heroes and lovers who give more than most. I took great pleasure from this book and will read the next book soon. I'm taking a small detour away from Jericho to another by Ann McMan, but I'll be back in a few days. Too good a store to leave the rest unread.

I'd give this one ten stars if I could. I read a LOT and this is one of the best books I have ever read. It's intelligent, erudite, witty, and extremely well written. The dialogue among the characters is definitely the best I've seen. I can't count the number of times I burst out laughing at the rapier wit portrayed, especially between Maddie and Syd. It is hard to believe that this is the author's first published novel. And as other reviewers have mentioned, this book is about double the length of most other novels. I savored every minute of it and still didn't want it to end.Ann McMan clearly did a great deal of research or is very knowledgeable about a variety of topics including food, wine, music, libraries, medicine, flying, relationships... I could go on. And as a resident of a small town myself, I found that she expertly describes the lifestyle, diverse characters, and interactions of a community of this size.If the tension between Maddie and Syd gets too intense, I would suggest that you go to the author's web site and read the alternate ending to the chapter in which Syd describes her ill-fated dinner with Jeff. [...]Just for the record, The Bryn Mawr School is a college preparatory school for girls in Baltimore with no religious affiliation whatsoever. As an alumna, I can unequivocally state that the only sisters you'll find there are of the sibling variety. The uniforms have never included a square centimeter of plaid; this was necessary so we could be distinguished from those Catholic school girls. (Although the ugly brown jumpers from years ago did invite comparisons to Brownies. Thank God we didn't have to wear beanies.) At this school, a student doing what Syd did, promoting safe sex, would probably get extra credit, not expelled. Needless to say, I was tickled, well, plaid to see mention of the school that is near and dear to me in heart and mind mentioned in the best lesbian fiction I have ever encountered. Ex solo ad solem, baby!

I really loved that Ann McMan took the time to develop a friendship first between these two characters. She explored what happens when two woman become friends before lovers. I realized almost halfway into the book that this was not a romance story in the conventional sense. This was a story about relationships and developing and strengthening them between lovers, and then family as well.Maddie and Syd have amazing chemistry right from the start, the way they fall into this leisurely ease with one another was very fun to watch. It started as friendly teasing, then playful banter, then flirting with the playful banter, that was just infectious to read. Once I realized that the author was taking us on this journey from friendship to love, I enjoyed it a hell of a lot more.The story is very well-written, and I admit, some of the literary sayings and musical references were unfamiliar to me not being very scholarly or from a musical background. For example, Proust? Heard of, but not familiar with. That only bothered me occasionally as I would feel out of the loop at times during discussions, but otherwise it was very enjoyable reading.The book also had a very mature tone to it, for lack of a better word. It was a mature view into a developing romance between two women. Even the scenes that depicted sex were written tastefully and not detailed, surprisingly, this did not bother me. The scenes were very intimate and did not take away from them being sexy, they just felt private. I felt that an explicit description of the sex would have somehow cheapened (for lack of a better word) the way the author told the story, it simply would not fit with the way this book was written.Reasons for 5 stars:A different take on romance: friends first then loversBanter and interactions with the characters: fun to read!Great writing overall!Thoroughly enjoyable, despite being considered a "slow-burn"

I understand how this book won an Outstanding Debut Novel. It's a full story (by which I mean that it's not just about the love problems of two people) with an outstanding cast in addition to the lovely and interesting primary characters. It's well written, literate, and in some places laugh out-loud funny. Lots of things happen, all perfectly believable, and it keeps you engaged. I hated having to put the book down to do the necessary things of life, and may have skipped a few of them to get back to the book faster. It even has some sex.Although this was her debut novel, I read a bunch of her other books before this one and I read them in no particular order. They have all been really good.I'm stopping now because I have to go read the other two books in the Jericho series.Take a tip from me, go read this and the other Ann McMan books.

Back in 2011 a new author appeared on the scene with a novel called “Jericho”. It tells the tale of a straight woman, Syd, running away from her failed marriage to lick her wounds in the small town of Jericho. On her way into town she gets a flat and is saved by the town Doctor, Maddie, a single out lesbian – but our unsuspecting straight girl doesn’t realise that.. in fact doesn’t find out for quite a long time.While setting up a new library and living in the flat above, Syd begins to form a strong friendship with Maddie, gets involved with the quirky local families and inadvertently begins to put down roots in the community. As their friendship develops Maddie is faced with the perennial question of how and when to tell her new friend, while Syd casually flirts and innocently captures Maddie’s heart. But Maddie has commitment issues of her own, and we all know what they say about falling for straight girls…“Jericho” was and is an admirable first novel. It’s not perfect, although it’s main characters sometimes appear so. But it is full of superb observation of human character and behaviour. It is infused with love and humour, drawing out and catching the idiosyncrasies of a wide cast of locals that we can all recognise and largely empathise with.The writing style is excellent, clearly showing the author’s literary potential, the wit is a precursor of even more humorous offerings such as the Diz and Clarissa stories. The slow burn is a wonderful alternative to so many flash in the pan romances where we get fed love at first sight and the angst of working out how. Here we essentially spend most of the well filled 416 pages, from the first meeting to the eventual resolution, watching not only Syd and Maddie come together, but a family develop and a community grow.I loved this on first, second and third reading, as the series has progressed it has grown more and more dear. With a new offering on the table I would definitely recommend starting at the beginning of the Jericho story.

A British Times newspaper reviewer once said of David Gray’s “White Ladder” album that it was: “A record that makes your life feel better by its mere existence”. That’s exactly how I feel about this book which may quite possibly be my all-time favourite lesfic romance. It’s beautifully written and unapologetically romantic (without being, in my view, completely mushy). All the book's characters are great but Syd and Maddie especially are just lovely – two intelligent, warm and witty women who are clearly meant for each other. Their banter from the start and throughout is great reading entertainment. I challenge anyone (gay or straight and who is not a complete homophobe) to read this book and NOT want Maddie and Syd to get together. It's a warm snuggly blanket of a book on a cold Winter's day. I simply can't say enough good things about it - buy it, read it, feel enriched by it and pray that it never ends (which sadly all things must)....then read the sequel, "Aftermath" !

I read this book 4 years ago and some time before I started writing the occasional review. So, why write this now? Well, sometimes to amuse myself (I know, I need to get out more), I think back on all the many lesfic books that I have read and try to remember the characters and stories. This is one of the few books where I can still remember the names of the characters and what happened in the story. Many of the others have merged into a homogenous mass and although I enjoy reading most of them, very few stick with me. For some reason this one always has; of course like all the others the women are gorgeous, multi-talented, flawless in both looks and character and pretty unrealistic but even so it was a very enjoyable read.

Decided to take a chance on this, partly I confess as it had good reviews already. I couldn't put it down; it's a fascinating combination of a romance story but with pure comedy as well. I was literally laughing out loud at some of the dialogue, a crack a minute!It's also slightly rare in that its written in such a way that it's at the right pace, I guess by that I mean I didn't feel as you can in some lesbian romance that the author does a cursory introduction to a character or place then moves on swiftly so you feel you are rushed through the book to get to the inevitable twist before the happy ending.I truly hope we get lots more wonderfully written books by this great new author.Well done Ann McMan!

This book kept coming up as suggestions to buy for ages, but being a stubborn person and wanting to choose my own books, I ignored it. Well as you can see I gave in and bought it.I think its about the best lesbian love story I have ever read, and in my lesbian lifetime I have read a lot. It was so moving and graphic that I felt I was an intruder sitting and listening to them as they eventually fell in love. I felt every emotion along with them and enjoyed ever page. I have longed for a decent book about real love and this is it. Thank you Ann McMan for superb story. I was torn between wanting to know how it ended and never wanting it to end. Hopefully there will be more books to come.