MY BLUE HEAVEN
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Molly Sanford and Josie Williams–characters directly based on Chambers and her lover Beth Allen–have retreated from the oppressive environment of New York to make a go of country life. Molly, a writer, hopes the seclusion will help her write better; Josie has a hankering to open up a salvaged-goods store; and both of them anticipate that living together away from urban pressures will bring new intimacy to their somewhat stale relationship. Molly becomes a “homespun humor columnist” for a regional farmers’ journal, using her experiences as a city gal trying to make it up country as the basis for her articles. In the column, Josie becomes Joe, Molly’s virile husband and the father of their make-believe child. “You’re a hypocrite,” charges Josie. “No,” parries Molly. “I’m a liar.”
Molly lies because she’s been burned before; her book on the joys of gay life led to her being fired from a teaching job. Farmhouse seclusion is her way of living as a lesbian without having to worry about other people’s opinions; the only heterosexuals Molly and Josie have to deal with are a few overactive goats and cats and Arnold, a particularly horny rooster. (“Maybe you should tell him about birth control,” says Molly. “I did,” responds Josie. “He sees it as the hen’s responsibility.”)
