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"Before Buffy, before Twilight, before Octavia Butler's Fledgling, there was The Gilda Stories, Jewelle Gomez's sexy vampire novel."The Gilda Stories is groundbreaking not just for the wild lives it portrays, but for how it portrays them--communally, unapologetically, roaming fiercely over space and time."--Emma Donoghue, author of Room"Jewelle Gomez sees right into the heart. This is a book to give to those you want most to find their own strength."-Dorothy Allison"Gomez's women are savvy and bold, with a sense of ancestry and history. The author's compassion, affection, and respect for her characters are infectious."-Library Journal This remarkable novel begins in 1850s Louisiana, where Gilda escapes slavery and learns about freedom while working in a brothel. After being initiated into eternal life as one who "shares the blood" by two women there, Gilda spends the next two hundred years searching for a place to call home. An instant lesbian classic when it was first published in 1991, The Gilda Stories has endured as an auspiciously prescient book in its explorations of blackness, radical ecology, re-definitions of family, and yes, the erotic potential of the vampire story. Jewelle Gomez is a writer, activist, and the author of many books including Forty-Three Septembers, Don't Explain, The Lipstick Papers, Flamingoes and Bears, and Oral Tradition. The Gilda Stories was the recipient of two Lambda Literary Awards, and was adapted for the stage by the Urban Bush Women theater company in thirteen United States cities. Alexis Pauline Gumbs was named one of UTNE Reader's 50 Visionaries Transforming the World, a Reproductive Reality Check Shero, a Black Woman Rising nominee, and was awarded one of the first-ever "Too Sexy for 501c3" trophies. She lives in Durham, North Carolina. More praise for The Gilda Stories:"Jewelle's big-hearted novel pulls old rhythms out of the earth, the beauty shops and living rooms of black lesbian herstory, expressed by the dazzling vampire Gilda. Her resilience is a testament to black queer women's love, power, and creativity. Brilliant!"--Joan Steinau Lester, author of Black, White, Other "--… (more)
User reviews
This novel has lesbian themes, although I wouldn't necessarily label it as a lesbian novel.
I had the pleasure of hearing Ms. Gomez read from the book at Giovanni's Room bookstore in Philadelphia, many years ago. It was an accident; I happened to come into the store to shop just as she was about to read from her work. I was utterly enthralled, and happily bought the book that day. Since then, I've loaned it to many of my friends, who have all agreed that this is a truly excellent read.
This collection of black lesbian vampire stories is more focused on the idea of immortality than vampire lore. The Girl was born a slave in the American South. She escapes and is on the run when a slave catcher finds her and tries to rape her; she kills him and is
The stories are not directly related, and the book does not have much of an overarching plot. It’s more focused on Gilda’s character and her life as the world changes around her. Gilda is immortal in a sea of mortals, and she tries to remain tied into their world rather than stand apart from it. In the two hundred years the book covers, she lives in different communities in different parts of the country, presenting through Gilda’s immortality a look at African American history and experience. The intertwining of black identity and immortality reminded me of Wild Seed by Octavia Butler, although The Gilda Stories is very much its own narrative. It’s a lot more of a literary book than I usually read, and I can see how it won the Lamda Award for lesbian science fiction.
Unfortunately, The Gilda Stories also furthers some stereotypes about bisexual people. There is only one character who is depicted as being attracted to multiple genders, Elanor. She’s an alluring, seductive redhead who takes a shine to Gilda. Gilda’s enchanted by her, despite warnings of others. As it turns out, Elanor gets off on manipulating and using people. She previously seduced both a husband and wife for the amusement of turning them against each other with jealousy. Biphobia is an issue within the queer community as well as without, so Gilda’s lesbian identity doesn’t affect the troubling depiction of bisexuality in The Gilda Stories.
The Gilda Stories is more interested in the heroine’s immortality than her dependence on blood. While Gilda’s vampiric nature is not the focus of the story, there were some interesting takes on vampire lore. Gilda’s protected from the sun as long as she has the dirt of her homeland sewn into her clothes and in her bed, a take I’ve never seen before. It’s also interesting how The Gilda Stories mixed vampires in with science fiction, through continuing the stories into 2050, when the human population is aware that vampires exist. I’m not sure if I’ve seen futuristic vampires before!
There’s a lot to love about The Gilda Stories, including it’s portrayal of queer subcultures and found families. However, it wasn’t to my taste. Primarily, the structure didn’t work for me. I tend to want more of an overarching story and wasn’t feeling the slower paced, short story like format. I also felt like there wasn’t any sort of conclusion — the book just ends. There’s nothing special about the last story; the narrative just as easily could have kept going. Throw in a biphobic stereotype and the overdone opening scene of the heroine killing an attempted rapist, and you get a book I’m iffy on.
There are reasons to recommend The Gilda Stories, but I don’t know how often I will be doing so.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
If you're reading this review, and curious about the book, I'm hope you'll read it. It feels like one which should have found its way to my hands much sooner, and one which should be far more widely known, read, and spoken of.
I'd absolutely recommend it.
It's the anti-Interview With the Vampire in every way.