''Babycakes'' (1984) is the fourth book in the ''

Tales of the City ''Tales of the City'' is a series of nine novels written by American author Armistead Maupin from 1978 to 2014, depicting the life of a group of friends in San Francisco, many of whom are LGBT. The stories from ''Tales'' were originally serial ...

'' series by American novelist

Armistead Maupin Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr. ( ) (born May 13, 1944) is an American writer notable for '' Tales of the City'', a series of novels set in San Francisco. Early life Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Ma ...

, originally serialized in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

''.

Plot elements

Babycakes is the term of affection the protagonist, Michael "Mouse" Tolliver uses for his best female friends. The novel begins in 1983.

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

of the United Kingdom are motoring, via limousine motorcade, into San Francisco as part of their visit to the United States. The novel concludes with the queen having a manicure done by the nanny of a former British naval officer who while in the United States, made the acquaintances of Michael, Mary Ann, Brian and the American and British press. This work deals with Michael's revelation of Jon Fielding's death from AIDS the previous year, and his lost contact with Mona. Michael must cope with it—and the new "problems" arising from his sex-related behaviour. All is not bleak, but it marks the end of the

free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues were the concern ...

and

decadence The word decadence, which at first meant simply "decline" in an abstract sense, is now most often used to refer to a perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, honor, discipline, or skill at governing among the members ...

era of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. After being absent from '' Further Tales of the City,'' the character of Mona Ramsey returns to the ''Tales'' series in this book. Mona, now 37 years of age, is living and working in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, the supposed "San Francisco of the 1980s."

References

1984 American novels 1980s LGBT novels Novels by Armistead Maupin Tales of the City Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle Novels set in San Francisco Harper & Row books American LGBT novels {{1980s-LGBT-novel-stub