Rag Time Bone

June M. Blurton is a retired speech pathologist.

In her second novel, D’anna sees growing up and moving out into the
world primarily in sexual terms.

Rag Time Bone has four main characters: three women and a man. None of
the women has a conventional background. Sage’s mother is a single
parent who supports her errant husband’s perpetual need for money.
Pearce has no visible parents, only a mother who vanished mysteriously
and a grandmother who has a secret and never allows anyone into her
house. Rita has an abusive older brother, a mother who takes pills to
combat her feelings of inadequacy, and a father who provides little
other than money. Eddie, the straight one, is not provided with a
background, but he adores Rita.

They grow up together in a small town where everyone knows everyone.
The girls move away and become women trying to discover what life means
to them. Pearce looks for her vanished mother; Sage looks for someone to
replace her lost father; Rita looks for love and a career; Eddie looks
for Rita. In spite of distance, the years, and lack of communication,
their lives remain entwined.

D’anna manipulates both time and her characters with skill and ease.
The characters are well developed and likeable. The physical settings
are lightly sketched, but easy to visualize. For all its strengths, this
book will primarily appeal to readers who are not offended by graphic
lesbian sex.