{"id":7946,"date":"2018-03-17T00:00:23","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T22:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelesbianreview.com\/?p=7946"},"modified":"2023-06-14T15:18:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T13:18:59","slug":"passing-strange-ellen-klages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelesbianreview.com\/passing-strange-ellen-klages\/","title":{"rendered":"Passing Strange by Ellen Klages: Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Passing<\/a>Passing Strange by Ellen Klages<\/b><\/span> is a lightly fantastic tale of life in San Francisco\u2019s lesbian culture in the 1940s: part wistful romance, part mystery, and with a modern framing story immersed in the culture of geeky collectables. A group of women of very different backgrounds and personalities are thrown together in the way that underground, closeted cultures tend to do. Then one woman\u2019s past and a chance tragedy call for them to combine their talents to save their own.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Characters<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

The characters are individual even when suggesting familiar types: the cross-dressing club performer, the elegant and aloof butch, the naive new girl in town. You\u2019ll finish the story certain that you\u2019ve met these women at some point and now you\u2019re sorry you didn\u2019t invite them out for coffee to learn more about their fascinating lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Writing Style<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Klages is a mistress of a type of magical realism where the fantastic elements are just barely present at the corner of your eye. The story is a quick and engrossing read, bringing the world-building techniques that are essential to science fiction and fantasy to bear on sketching out the period setting.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Pros<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

I love the depth of familiarity Klages has with her setting, both cultural and geographic. I could smell the bookshop, feel the brick walls under my fingers, and hear the music spilling out of the dance club. Her writing is exquisite and concrete at the same time and the story is never predictable even as it concludes in the way you always knew it should.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Cons<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

The only very minor quibble I have about the underlying symbolic structure of the story, is that the magical elements are what enable the happy endings (the one in the historic story and in the framing story). I\u2019m left thinking that without the magic everything would have led to tragedy, and that\u2019s an uncomfortable feeling for those of us who live in a world without magic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Conclusion<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

This is a gorgeous story (and here I include the stunningly beautiful cover as well) that will appeal both to fans of fantasy and of a good old-fashioned pulp love story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Excerpt from <\/b><\/span>Passing Strange by Ellen Klages<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

She slowly removed the box, setting it so gently onto the table that there was no sound. For the second time, Helen undid the cords that held the corners of the silk and let it fall away.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was gratified to hear a sudden, inhaled gasp.<\/span><\/p>\n

A gleaming shallow case of dark, polished wood, about ten by fifteen inches, lay among the folds of silk, its top framing a sheet of thick glass. Inside was a painting\u2014done in vibrant pastel chalks\u2014on a sheet of heavy art paper.<\/span><\/p>\n

Martin Blake did an almost comic double take. His eyes widened, his mouth hung open. \u201cIs that\u2014?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaskel\u2019s last painting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The illustration showed a slender, russet-haired young man in evening clothes, dancing with a woman in a shimmering blue jumpsuit that clung to every curve, her hair a sleek blond waterfall. They gazed into each other\u2019s eyes with obvious joy. The dancers stood in a skylit library. Behind them, a wall of windows revealed the skyline of the city and the expanse of the bay spread out below.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the bottom right-hand corner was the familiar, angular signature.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJesus,\u201d said Martin Blake.<\/span><\/p>\n

Get This Book On Amazon<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

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[tweetthis]I just read this review for Passing Strange by Ellen Klages[\/tweetthis]<\/p>\n

Bits and Bobs<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n