BEAUTIFUL INEZ by Bart Schneider

Publisher Crown/Shaye Areheart Books, February 2005

From critically-acclaimed novelist Bart Schneider comes a captivating tale of romantic love and sexual adventure, social change and family upheavals, set against the vibrant backdrop of San Francisco in the 1960s.

Inez Roseman has a brilliant career as a violinist with the San Francisco Orchestra, a successful husband, and two bright and talented children. But despite her seemingly perfect life , Inez is obsessed with thoughts of suicide.

Sylvia Bran also has an obsession. Enraptured with the beautiful violinist, Sylvia pretends to be a reporter and arranges to interview Inez. At once seductive and solicitous, she awakens Inez from the suffocating grip of her career, the demands of motherhood, and the tensions caused by her husband's many affairs. The two women become lovers, embarking on a dance of passion and betrayal that soon spins out of control.

Bart Schneider re-creates the heady atmosphere of an era of daring experimentation in music, sexuality, and just about everything else. His intimate portraits of Inez and of Sylvia, and their struggle to define themselves, ring with an authenticity that recalls Michael Cunningham's award-winning The Hours.

Bart Schneider founded and served as editor of Hungry Mind Review and is a board member of the National Book Critics Circle. He lives in Saint Paul, Minesota.