kp's Reviews > After Julius

I was so disturbed by the final pages of this novel that I find it hard to evaluate. It's a triumph of verisimilitude, masterly in its structure and characterization, aching but often funny, and exquisitely written. The three female leads are especially vivid. It's also honest about sexual attraction and anxiety without trying to explain or resolve complexities, and in 1965, this honesty makes After Julius an important book. Howard wisely refuses to truly resolve the conflicts in the story, but the sexual politics of its denouement are devastating. Some could argue that the final scenes normalize and even promote female sexual passivity and justify male dominance. Others could argue that Howard subtly but profoundly undermines centuries of romance plots to ask hard questions about the myths that relegate women to a minor role in the story of their own sexuality. I'm opting for the latter explanation, but my uncertainty is troubling.