Uncertain Ground

May 15, 2010
In the summer of 1953, college student Celia Henderson escapes the stifling heat of her Central Texas hometown for the Gulf breezes of Galveston, where she is charged with keeping tabs on her hard-partying cousin Emmett. That proves a difficult task since Galveston is known to be Texas Sin City, and Emmett makes regular visits to the red-light district, casino, and various and sundry bars. With its risqu' air and tolerance of human vice, Galveston proves to be a confusing place for Celia, who, enmeshed in an unhappy romance with a law student, is well aware that women pay a higher price for sexual freedom than men do. She wants more from life than a shotgun wedding and a house full of children. Emmett and Celia fall in with a group of rich young people and also meet Louis Platon, a Mexican American artist, rumored to be gay, who indirectly teaches Celia much about accepting the uncertainties of life. Osborn poignantly captures a particular time and place with subtle humor and rich use of idiosyncratic detail.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)