Short Stories by Diemer & West

One of the joys of blogging is that you get to make up the rules. 

 . . . and go nanny nanny boo-boo to yourself, every now and then.

I write book reviews - I read a book, make notes, sit around staring at a wall for a while, then end up with something that eventually becomes a post on The Rainbow Reader.

It’s scientifically unscientific, kind of like making pudding, only with words and no whip cream.

Back in August, the lovely and talented Sarah Diemer of The Dark Wife fame asked if I’d crack open my rulebook to review a short story of hers.  I kind of wanted to say ‘no’ because I only review books, but she’s just so darn nice and her writing is so lyrically edgy, I found myself saying, “Of course I will.”

Then a month later, the lovely and talented Gabriella West of The Leaving fame reminded me that I had asked her to keep me up to date on her work, which includes the release of a new short story.  I kind of wanted to say ‘no short story review’ because I only do books, but she’s just so darn nice and her writing is so lyrically edgy, I found myself saying, “Of course I will.”

Hmmm.  See the trend here?

Pat yourself on the back, because it took me a few days to realize that these two writers, while so very different, have compatible styles, and the subject matter for their short stories could combine for a really cool and different type of review.

So, I blew the dust off my finest nanny nanny boo-boo, and this post was born.

Short Story:  Far

Author:  Sarah Diemer

Publisher:  Self-Published

Far is the dystopian tale of Mana, who is the best Runner for the dark, oppressed, city without a name.  As a Runner, she uses magic to steal the souls of the recently departed from the purgatory of After, and its sketchy machine known as the Recycler.  Once the souls are returned to the city, she repatriates them with their lifeless bodies.  All is well, until she meets Far, a beautiful woman that makes her feel alive.  But Far is seemingly unimpressed by the love and devotion of Mana, and takes her own life in an attempt to be free.  A completely devastated Mana returns to After to retrieve Far’s soul, so they can be together again.  Far is furious with Mana for making her a Reanima, and refuses her attempts at love.  Mana takes one more job to get money to make a better life for Far, but is consumed by The Prehend.  Far realizes her love for Mana, and follows her into After, but what she finds challenges every notion of life, death, love, and forever.

Ah, I love a good dystopian zombie love story.

Far is available for purchase as a short story at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords, but it will also be included in Ms. Diemer’s Love Devours:  Tales of Monstrous Adoration, a speculative/science fiction lesbian anthology scheduled for release in November 2011.

While deprivation, terror, and oppression are not part of my ‘feel good’ vibe, Far is an amazing little story that makes the dark journey worth while.  The story is beautifully written, and amazingly detailed.  The characters are surprisingly complex for such a short tale, and their relationship has a delicate hint of O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi.  But, it is so very much more. 

The more I read of Sarah Diemer, the more I’m mesmerized by her vision and writing style.  I’m giving the short story Far a 5.1 out of 6 on the Rainbow Scale – it’s dark but it’s a gorgeous piece of prose.

Short Story:  The Doge’s Daughter

Author:  Gabriella West

Publisher:  Self-Published

The Doge’s Daughter non-too-politely grabs the reader by the hand and drags us into the heart of 17^th Century Vienna. Piero is a young boy from a poor family who is chosen by the priests of the Doge’s court to become a castrato singer in their choir.  For years he toils as a singer, maturing into a serious young man.  Because of the castration, he remains almost girlish in appearance.  One day, Elisabetta, the teenage daughter of the Doge, singles him out for special games.  Piero is surprised, but knows his place when summoned.  Elisabetta marries the handsome young Prince Michele, who embraces an open relationship with his new wife as a way to sustain their passion.  Of course, Prince Michele is as taken by the young Piero as Elisabetta.

As someone who reviews Lesbian Literature, I was so not prepared for a piece of erotic historical fiction that included castration, pedophilia, oral and anal sex, and a lusty bisexual menage-a-trois.  Nope, totally not prepared.

But, you know what?  This is a well written sort-of love story.  The kind of well written story that deposits the reader into the very heart of it.  Ms. West told a dark and gritty tale that addressed several taboo topics and a handful of others that aren’t mentioned in polite company, but she did it in a beautiful, lyrical style.  Ms. West is masterful at strong first-person narrative, and the reader is easily able to step into the shoes of Piero, and embrace his moments of joy, beauty, and discovery. 

One of the fun elements of this story is figuring out the roles.  Piero and Prince Michele are men, and Elisabetta is a woman.  Yet, Piero is a eunuch, and so many elements of attraction for Michele and Elisabetta are tied to his more girlish aspects.  Many, but not all. 

My tastes run strongly toward lesbian literature, so this short story wasn’t really in my wheelhouse.  Still, as a reviewer, I can’t deny that it is a brilliant piece of writing that deserves to be embraced by it’s intended audience.  I’m giving The Doge’s Daughter a 5.0 out of 6 on the Rainbow Scale – as a lesfic reviewer, it’s not every day I get to use the words “eunuch” and “castrato”.

The Doge’s Daughter is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

The Leaving by Gabriella West

Book:  The Leaving

Author:  Gabriella West

Publisher:  Self-Published at Smashwords

As an intelligent, slightly quirky, baby dyke with a cowlick, coming of age in small town, rural America in the mid-eighties was a confusing, awkward, lonely experience.  I didn’t read the same books, listen to the same music, or wear the same clothes as my peers; and whenever I tried to engage anyone in conversation, they tended to look at me like I was asking them, in a little-used dialect of isiXhosa, to conjegate a sentence with multiple verbs.

And, as hard as it may be to believe, I never actually did that – with “that” being the operative word.

Because friendships of any depth were fleeting, at best, I tended to focus my teenage energies inward, and spent a lot of time thinking about travelling to places like Marrakesh and the Heart of Darkness, and meeting people just a little more like me.

Or even totally not like me, but at least able to conjugate a sentence with multiple verbs.

In The Leaving, by Gabriella West, we are introduced to teenager Cathy Quinn, a smart, quirky, social misfit growing up in the dreary and depressed 1980’s Dublin.  Her gay brother, Stevie, begins a new relationship with the one boy she thinks she likes only to discover she really doesn’t.  Stevie is sometimes her friend and sometimes her antagonist, but always her older brother.  Cathy understands that she’s not like anyone else, but isn’t going to be coerced by her parents, her brother, or her schoolmates into fitting in to their definition of ‘normal’. 

After Christmas break, she meets Jeanette, another misfit, and begins her first in-depth friendship.  Quickly, the friendship grows stronger and deeper, and Cathy soon realizes she’s fallen in love. But, being gay is strictly verboten in this society, and Jeanette is more concerned with starting to fit in with the kids at school than in exploring and pursuing her feelings for her best friend.  Cathy is faced with changing herself to fit in with Jeanette, or staying true to herself and being alone again.  She chooses to focus inward to cope with the separation, loss, and pain; and looks outward as she starts to plan her escape from school, home, Dublin, and Ireland.

“California, here we come . . .”

When I first read the synopsis of The Leaving, I thought I’d be reading a YA novel.  And, while some young adults might pick it up and learn a thing or two, the book transcends the boundaries of that genre’.  Yes, it’s about a teenager dealing with school, friends, family, sexuality, and first love; but it also explores complex themes like sibling rivalry, gender bias, social bullying, and raw emotional default.   

Cathy is described as chubby, homely, standoffish, and weird, but you get the sense that at some level she understands that she’s biding her time, keeping the plates spinning, and waiting for the time to spread her wings and fly.  This is portrayed beautifully during the section of the book where Cathy and Jeanette spend several weeks on the farm in County Meath.  Cathy flourishes socially, emotionally, and physically before it all falls apart and the downward spiral of her relationship with Jeanette begins.  But still, she has the brief, sweet taste of things to come.

While Cathy’s relationship with her parents is almost non-existent, her relationship with Stevie is complicated and central to the book – he’s everything she isn’t – strong, popular, bold, and good-looking.  He looks after her, tells her things, and shares part of the burden of home life with her.  But, he senses her inner strength and capabilities lurking deep inside. Surprisingly, and sometimes not, it appears that Stevie senses her gifts, and tries to sabotage her through passive and not-so-passive aggressive behavior.  As the book progresses, however, we start to see a shift in each of them and their relationship – Cathy, for all her faults and insecurities, begins to come into herself, and makes decisions that change the course of her life and moves her beyond Stevie’s shadow.

Overall, I thought the book started out very slowly, but came to understand that this is Cathy’s journey, not that of the reader.  The book is written in first person narrative, and we follow her pace, her thoughts, her decisions, and her directions.  She treats herself not so differently than she treats everyone around her, and the reader often times feels so close to breaking through, only to be pushed back slightly.  At times, we’re invited inside, much like Stevie and Jeanette, but not much more.  I sense that this takes an amazing amount of discipline by the author to tell Cathy’s story without stepping outside her carefully guarded emotional façade.  While it can be trying for the reader, it makes perfect sense.

One of the near constants of any coming of age story is that there is something that each of us identifies with, and this story stays true to form.  The Leaving is a powerful book, but it’s not emotionally easy to read.  We want to be closer to Cathy, but she won’t let us.  We want her to meet the perfect woman, but we don’t know if she ever will.  And, we want to her be happy, but there’s no guarantee where life will lead her. 

If you’re looking for something with a little bite, something that will challenge you, something that will take you back to those not-always-so-halcyon days of your teens as you assess where you’ve come and how you got here; then The Leaving is the perfect catalyst.  I’m giving this book a 4.8 out of 6 on the Rainbow Scale.

Gabriella West isn’t afraid to be different, and she isn’t afraid to stay true to herself - for a little more info on her and how the book came to be, don't hesitate to check her out at either of the following sites: 

http://gabriellawest.net/

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/gabriellawest