2015 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention; Also nominated for Lambda and Golden Crown Awards 2015. Can one memory haunt and influence your entire life? Excerpt from chapter 28: "Shelli had been shy at first, then demanding, directing. Rona had become freshly fascinated with her own hands, at how well they played that newness, that softness, that warmth. Her hands knew the correct fingering and positioning without instructions. That act of love came naturally. She was playing the violin, the cello, the entire orchestra, in legato, legatissimo and molto vibrato. At last, down on her knees, she'd put her mouth on that versatile new instrument. Until the gasp came. The gasp hadn't been hers, hadn't been Shelli's. Suddenly her boy-lover towered over them." This book almost reads itself, so sure-footed is the pacing, the ease of being drawn in despite some unease about what is written; I admire the way the author does not intrude on her characters (and thus her readers) with the pointed finger of too much message forcibly delivered. A reader's ease and ability to identify with each main character is to have witnessed Avilan's magic literary show. As a reader, one leans into this character or that one, or all of them, as readily as one turns the pages. One of the hallmarks of a well-designed and well-written story, for me, is whether the characters stay with me long after the book is done. Do they ever! Read this book at your own peril and your own pleasure because it will make you feel. And you will remember the people from A Small Country About to Vanish." By Historical Romance author T. T. Thomas.

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