Synopses & Reviews
Jane Rules first collection of short stories, some of which were first published in
The Ladder, the first nationally distributed lesbian publication in the United States. Jane Rule is also the author of
Desert of the Heart and
Memory Board.
In the sensual and tender Middle Children,” two closeted young lesbians radiate the joy of their love into the tumultuous lives around them.
In A Television Drama,” Carolee Mitchell witnesses the capture of a wounded fugitive?and the blurring of the boundaries between reality and unreality.
Young Maly learns to contend with the games of her brother and his new friend by devising a game of her own in My Father's House.”
In My Country Wrong,” an American lesbian returns at Christmas time to Vietnam-era San Francisco.
In the humorous story House,” an uninhibited, nonconformist family tries conventionality on for size.
Ruth hires Anna?but the womens relationship encompasses far more complicated issues than Anna being Ruths Housekeeper.”
In the unforgettable In the Basement of the House”, a young woman grapples with the forces that entwine her life with a conventional-appearing husband and wife.
And in a story that ranks with the greatest ever written, lesbian Alice occupies The Attic of the House.”
This outstanding collection, from one of the most gifted writers of our generation, deserves a permanent place on your bookshelf.
Review adapted from lesbianfunworld.com.
Review
Cool, clear-eyed, compassionate and unsentimental, Jane Rules work compares very well with the best fiction written anywhere.”
Margaret Laurence, Globe and Mail
Synopsis
Jane Rules first collection of short stories.
About the Author
Jane RuleJane Rule was born in New Jersey in 1931 and came to Canada in 1956, where she later taught at the University of British Columbia. Her first novel, Desert of the Heart (1964, Talonbooks 1991), was made into a movie in the 1980s. Rule emerged as one of the most respected writers in Canada with her many novels, essays and collections of short stories, including Theme for Diverse Instruments (1975). Rule passed away in 2007.
Table of Contents
"Theme for Diverse Instruments
"My Father's House"
"Brother and Sister"
"House"
"A Television Drama"
"A Walk by Himself"
"The Furniture of Home"
"Housekeeper"
"In the Basement of the House"
"If There Is No Gate"