Book Review:The Persecution of Milred Dunlap by Paulette Mahurin

Title: The persecution of Milred Dunlap
Author: Paulette Mahurin
Publisher: Blue balm Press
Pages:202
ISBN:9780977186617
Genre: Historic fiction/Lesbian
Rating: 5 out of 5
Source: Review copy




Summary:
1890's had definetily been a era of historic events with major events taking place around the globe, and then much to the dismay of people Oscar Wilde the celebrity playwright, poet was imprisoned for being gay, miles apart two families were torn apart when two guys were seen hugging in the small town of Red Pass , Nevada and now its Milred Dunlap with her twisted fate awaiting her destiny..How would she save herself and her love for Edra from prejudice and intolerance of people...

Review:
The news of Wilde's imprisonment on the charge of sustaining a relation with the same gender is spread like a wild fire..People gossip away spitefully, the air is prejudiced and stingly...Milred is caught in an environment so surprisingly torn in between the intolerance of people and their narrow mindedness..Suddenly her relation with Edra her cousin becomes the talk of town , people don't spare her for all the generosity she has bestowed upon people so selflessly ., everyone prefers to forget and join in hands to corner her..With all these I didn't want the novel to end the way it looked but I was pleasantly surprised the way it end ..Though I had my reservation about the genre, it was throughly an enjoyable read....I didn't know what to expect of a novel that dealt Lesbian relation ,suddenly it dawned to me that, in spite of all the progress around me how closed and held back ours thoughts could be, on certain subjects..
The book explores more on the intolerance of people... When in our times with all the supporting law to choose our partners,we have our predicament pretty much reserved to acceptance, it wouldn't be a rocket science to get a picture back then some two hundred years go..The relationship itself is elegantly portrayed, by Mahurin... Milred Dunlap is a down to earth ,wealthy with a generous heart but people after drinking in all her generosity, join the likes of vengeful Josie to spit rude and spiteful remarks behind her..I liked Milred .,she is a wonderful, strong, determined lady on the otherhand Edra is soft ,gentle and lovable but who could turn ablaze to protect the person she loves...Exploring a unique vantage Mahurin portrays the people in the society who change into various shades by their own whims and fancy..The characters of the novel are brought up to perfection...As much the I loved Milred, Edra, Charley and Gus  ., I ended up disliking Josie with pleasure..Josie had her reasons to hate Milred as she believed that MIlred's father had taken away the land that supposedly belonged to her family , but what I couldn't understand where the likes of people who joined  her wagon to spread gossip...The countryside of 19th century America is a treat to read ..Charley proves to be a true friend who acts appropriately when in indeed...Gus with his years of experience dealing with likes of people has a formed a strong depth in philosophy bringing in thoughts to ponder...Mahurin has done a fantastic job in accenting the cynical side of prejuidice that stops people from being open mind , building intolerance to accept things the way the are, her writing is easy and refreshing and I am definitely looking forward to her future works..