Tanner examines the reader as voyeur and participant in the rape scene at the end of The Women of Brewster Place.

The rape scene in The Women of Brewster Place occurs in "The Two," one of the seven short stories that make up the novel. This story explores the relationship between Theresa and Lorraine, two lesbians who move into the run-down complex of apartments that make up "Brewster Place." Lorraine's decision to return home through the shortcut of an alley late one night leads her into an ambush in which the anger of seven teenage boys erupts into violence:

Lorraine saw a pair of suede sneakers flying down behind the face in front of hers and they hit the cement with a dead thump    [C C and the boys] had been hiding up on the wall, watching her come up that back street, and they...