Rule, Jane

Average customer rating:

a sweet, thoughtful book on aging
Reccommended Reading for Women of All Ages
After the Fire is good, wholesome reading

After the Fire
Jane Rule
Manufacturer: Naiad Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

This Is Not For You
Desert Of The Heart

ASIN: 0941483452

Customer Reviews:

a sweet, thoughtful book on aging.......2007-01-21

After the Fire is a slow-paced, introspective little book that suffers from bait and switch marketing. The book description outlines a basic lesbian romantic plot: brokenhearted dumpee retreats to a beautiful location and meets a lovely but mysterious woman.

I would not be surprised if fans of Rule's other books thought they were purchasing a torrid lesbian romance--the packaging certainly leads you to think that's what this is. Instead, After the Fire is a character driven novel about the emotional lives of women in their youth, midlife, and older years with virtually no romantic story at all. I don't recall any of the many characters even going on a date. Furthermore, while one of the primary characters is a lesbian, almost all of the others are straight.

Having said all this, what the book does have is a moving story about dealing with grief, loss and aging. Half-Japanese Karen, the dumpee, moves to a mostly white, mostly straight island to lick her wounds a rebuild her sense of self. Along the way she meets women of all ages who gradually move from secondary character status to becoming a huge part of Karen's life. The multigenerational friendships that form are far from the usual mother-daughter bond. Very well drawn and probably my favorite part of this book. A warning: This is not an action-packed book. Nothing much happens to the women in this small town, but the characters are interesting enough to draw you in anyway.

Reccommended Reading for Women of All Ages.......2006-01-21

One of the few books which I feel should be required reading for women of all ages. The story is about a group of women who all, for one reason or another are learning to live alone, rely on themselves while still making community for one another. They learn to find their strengths, come to terms with their limitations and thrive. A very positive read.

After the Fire is good, wholesome reading.......2000-04-27

After the Fire is a book about life, death and love. It connects the older age group with the younger, showing what can be learned from someone with life experience. This book is wholesome reading anyone will enjoy.

Average customer rating:

Hard to put down

Contract with the World
Jane Rule
Manufacturer: Naiad Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0930044282

Customer Reviews:

Hard to put down.......2006-05-28

This novel almost reads like a series of connected short stories. Each chapter focuses mainly on one character, but we also see all the other characters in how they interact alltogether.
There is gentle Joseph, who despite his own fragile mental health helps to hold the others togehter. Alma, the queen, who is so entertaining one can't quite hate her the way one wants to. Allen and Mike, both tougher than nails with very real weaknesses, and Carlotta and Roxanne who seem to be almost too far removed from life itself.
The story is told with a wry sense of humour, and it's hard to put the book down, since no one ever has a boring moment, including the reader. Told in an era when 2nd wave feminism was at it's height and gay and lesbian politics were still just emerging, it is interesting to read the book some 26 years later and find that much of its politics still apply!

Desert of the heart: A novel (Talonbooks)

Average customer rating:

Kinda dated, and that's good news for us!
Timeless - One of the best books I ever read
On the boundary
Classic Love Story
Conflicted

Desert of the heart: A novel (Talonbooks)
Jane Rule
Manufacturer: Talonbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Desert Hearts (Two-Disc Vintage Collection)
Black Women as Cultural Readers
Painted Moon
Bastard Out of Carolina (Essential Edition): (Plume Essential Edition)
First Instinct

ASIN: 0889221316

Book Description

The book that launched the ground-breaking and single most popular lesbian movie of all time is back.

In this romantic classic by Jane Rule, readers can discover how Ann and Evelyn's relationship originally came to pass.

DESERT OF THE HEART is THE definitive lesbian classic.

Customer Reviews:

Kinda dated, and that's good news for us!.......2006-09-15

When I first read Rule's "Desert of The Heart" in the late 70's, there wasn't much else to read on the subject. Today, the book seems dated... much focus on shame and guilt, the characters ruminating frequently on society's insistence that women be married ladies, and such-like.

Thanks to the gay and lesbian civil rights movement, this book doesn't apply to a lot of us anymore. But, thank you, Jane Rule, for putting out a book that many people held dear at the time.... it was a little opening up of the questions that people needed to hear discussed back then.

Timeless - One of the best books I ever read.......2005-11-19

I've been reading for over 30 years and I am not exaggerating that this is a terrific novel that should not be missed. There is as much depth in one chapter as you will get in entire novels. The writing simply flows and you don't put the book down until you notice the day has gone dark and lunch and dinner time have passed you by. Wonderful characters so rich in details they you wonder about them long after the novel ends.

Here is a description of the novel from the publishers web site - Evelyn Hall arrives in Reno wanting only to be left alone while she waits six weeks for a painful divorce from her husband. Once there she meets Ann Child - 15 years her junior, who is both a free spirit and a lesbian. Soon Ann refuses to let the controlled but vulnerable Evelyn ignore the powerful emotions that begin to unleash inside her... Immortalized for a whole new generation by the film Desert Hearts, Jane Rule's classic DESERT OF THE HEART is arguably her finest novel. Joyce Carol Oates called it "an intelligent and utterly believable novel". Told with all the wit and skill of this fine novelist, the book stands as a classic of lesbian literature.

I enjoyed it so much I bought the dvd!

I also went and bought the authors other novels.

On the boundary.......2002-02-26

Evelyn travels to a small Nevada town to finalize her divorce, and there encounters Ann. The two slowly ease into a love affair, and as Evelyn's court appearance and scheduled departure loom ahead, the two struggle to figure out just how a relationship between two women could possibly last. Rule's writing is a bit dated for modern audiences, but the potency of Ann and Evelyn's love burns through the later parts of the novel. I think the movie adaption "Desert Hearts" beautifully captures the essentials of the book, but like the other reviewers have mentioned, it's almost a different story in places.

Classic Love Story.......2001-08-28

As one reviewer said, if you expect the film to be exactly like the book, you'll be disappointed. However, it is a lyrical, complex book which demands much from the reader. It is not one of the lollypop romance books which now seem to be the norm. There is nothing wrong with lollypop but if you eat too much you get indigestion of the brain. This book, for me, resolved some observations I had made in the movie that didn't seem to make sense or seem right for the story and Rule justified my doubts about certain things. In the book, Evelyn (Vivien in the movie) is not so much uptight as unsure and conflicted and Ann (Kay in the movie) is much more complex. THere are subplots which are missing in the movie and I have no complaints with that because they would have taken away from the main story and would have made it much longer than it should be.You will find a big difference in the character of Frances that was portrayed in the movie. She too is much more complex. If you want to read a book which will engage your mind and soul, as well as your heart, then read Desert of the Heart. First rate.

Conflicted.......2001-03-01

This is an extremely well written book, but if you're looking for it after seeing the movie, you might find it a bit different and unpalatable. The book has a cold and desolate feel which is apropriate for the way Rule goes with the story, and the writing is amazing, but it is not such a sweet love story as the movie, and Freud would have a ball with these two! There is much talk of the two women and a mother/daughter relationship which may offended some readers. Incidentally, the movie is actually "Desert Hearts" not "Desert of the heart" as the other reviewer mentioned, and they are both very different.

Average customer rating:

Hot Eyed Moderate
Jane Rule
Manufacturer: Firefly Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

After the Fire

ASIN: 1550135368

Book Description

"The title phrase captures nicely Rule's blend of honesty and cool analytical power with moral and artistic passion." - The Women's Review of Books (1993)

Average customer rating:

not what the title suggests
The title says it all.

This Is Not For You
Jane Rule
Manufacturer: Insomniac Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

After the Fire
Desert Of The Heart
Landing

ASIN: 1894663845

Book Description

Rule's most self-consciously lilterary and philosophical novel--tells the story of a young woman in the late 1950s and early 1960s as she negotiate her lesbian sexuality.

Customer Reviews:

not what the title suggests.......2000-05-31

"This Is Not For You" is a poignant and thought provoking novle about one woman's struggle to come to terms with her sexuality. The solemn tone of this book is offset by humour. A realistic portrayal of a woman torn between love for and a desire to protect a beloved friend. Beautiful.

The title says it all........1997-03-10

I found this book tedious and very slow. I was anxious for it to conclude. Good enough to keep me to the end, but nothing to inspire me.

Average customer rating:

Inland Passage

Inland Passage
Jane Rule
Manufacturer: Naiad Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

The Young In One Another's Arms (Little Sister's Classics)
Desert Of The Heart

ASIN: 0930044584

Customer Reviews:

Inland Passage.......2006-12-14

Why does Dulce have so profound an impact on the artistic lives around her? A lesbian has ended her conventional marriage and is free - or is she?

In the most traditioal of romantic settings, on board a ship that travels the Inland Pasage, two women discover new possibility...

These and many other soul-deep, gentle tales explore the conventional and unconventional relationships in all our lives - relationships among lovers and friends and wives and husbands and children and family ... and the power we all have to sometimes damage, sometimes ennoble those around us.

The broad range and depth of these stories, their insight and humanity, reflect the fully matured talentof Jane Rule.
--- from book's back cover

Average customer rating:

Lesbian images
Jane Rule
Manufacturer: DoubleDay
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books

History | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
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Desert Of The Heart

ASIN: 0385042558

Average customer rating:

A HOT-EYED MODERATE
Jane Rule
Manufacturer: Lester & Orpen Dennys
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HT98WK

Average customer rating:

Desert of the Heart
Jane Rule
Manufacturer: Insightout Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0965030741

Average customer rating:

Desert of the Heart
Jane Rule
Manufacturer: Naiad Press, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HMYAHA

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