Benchmarks

Benchmarks is mostly made up of a series of letters written by Adrienne, a Parisian lawyer who is waging a difficult and lonely battle against her attraction to Alex, a visitor from Australia, her partner's ex-lover.

The letters, on their own, carry the plot - the tension - but there is also Alex's insight into her own frustrated wait, into her own longing for Adrienne who can bring herself to organize private time with Alex who, by then, is residing in the south of France, nor put an end to their tenuous link through correspondence.

The letters span a period of about six months, and tell the essence of an impossible love affair between the two women - impossible in terms of geographical distance and loyalties (Adrienne's loyalty to her long term partner, Sophie, and Alex's loyalty to her long term friend, the same Sophie).

Saint-Clair's prose is sensually evocative. The desire that draws Alex and Adrienne to each other is palpable, but, so, too, is the male brutality and raw injustice that is fragmented around the tender portrayal of this women's same-sex love tale.