Assorted Flavours: A Collection of Lesbian Short Stories [Paperback]

Lois Cloarec Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2005

Assorted Flavours offers stories that are whimsical, poignant, suspenseful and bittersweet - love is the silken thread woven through all these stories.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Each of these stories is dazzling and inventive, with the underlying promise of something utterly unexpected waiting just up ahead. -- Independent Gay Writer, June 2005

From the Inside Flap

With a keen eye toward human nature, Lois Hart’s new story collection paints a rich and colorful picture of life on the margins. Because Hart is an old-fashioned storyteller of the very highest order, each offering is solid and engrossing, relying more upon character development, careful plotting, and seamless writing than on stylistic flash. She writes lovely sentences and scenes, at times elegant, at times whimsical or witty, all of which affect the reader in surprising and delightful ways and often with unexpected consequences. The power of most of these ten stories is cumulative, each one dazzling and inventive, with the underlying promise of something utterly unexpected waiting just up ahead. ~Lori L. Lake, author of Stepping Out: Short Stories and reviewer for Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: P.D. Publishing, Inc. (March 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975436627
• ISBN-13: 978-0975436622
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,493,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!, July 17, 2005

By 

Debra "Cdn Lesfic Addict" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Assorted Flavours: A Collection of Lesbian Short Stories (Paperback)

What a thoroughly delightful collection of short stories by a talented writer.

This book contains a wee bit of something for everyone. "Grandmother's Tea Cup" is a piece that was included in the Lammy Short-listed anthology "The Milk of Human Kindness". The futuristic "Tenebrae" seems almost foreshadowing and the touching "Lost and Found", a story of elder lesbian love, will melt your heart.

All the stories are wonderful and carefully crafted by this clearly gifted authors

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Midwest Book Review, June 2005 Issue, May 31, 2005

By 

Lori L. Lake "Author of Like Lovers Do, Buyer... (Portland, Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Assorted Flavours: A Collection of Lesbian Short Stories (Paperback)

Author Lois Hart, who has two novels under her belt (COMING HOME and BROKEN FAITH), has tried her hand at a collection of short stories and obtained terrific results. Love and relationships, conflict and oddities abound in this well-written collection of thoughtful and interesting pieces.

With a keen eye toward human nature, Hart's new story collection paints a rich and colorful picture of life on the margins. Two of my favorites are about an angry lesbian daughter in conflict with her mother in "Grandmother's Cup" and a frightening and realization-filled flight from Halifax to Toronto in "Nine Minutes." The book ends with a lovely novella, "The Lion and the Lamb."

Because Hart is an old-fashioned storyteller of the very highest order, each offering is solid and engrossing, relying more upon character development, careful plotting, and seamless writing than on stylistic flash. She writes lovely sentences and scenes, at times elegant, at times whimsical or witty, all of which affect the reader in surprising and delightful ways and often with unexpected consequences. The power of most of these ten stories is cumulative. By the time you arrive at the middle of the volume, you will already be regretting that there is an end in sight.

Each of these stories is dazzling and inventive, with the underlying promise of something utterly unexpected waiting just up ahead. Don't miss this short story collection. It's one of the best of 2005. ~Lori L. Lake, Midwest Book Review and author of Stepping Out: Short Stories

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Variety, October 2, 2005

By 

K. Isserman "Kisserman" (Columbia, MD) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Assorted Flavours: A Collection of Lesbian Short Stories (Paperback)

Lois Cloarec Hart's Assorted Flavours: A Collection of Lesbian Short Stories is a delightful and engaging read that illustrates the author's talent and range.The ten stories are well written with enough variety for any reader who enjoys terrific fiction.

The fairy tale, Rude, gives us a woman with special powers who goes a little too far with them and it backfires. The story recognizes that what one person may deem a good cause, another may not. It is truly a fairy tale with a moral, but is never preachy. Grandmother's Cup is a touching story of how a mother and daughter's love for each other can overcome prejudice. It is a coming out story that brings together rejection, cruelty and finally acceptance and love. Hart, in just a few pages, makes this turnaround believable. Walking After Midnight includes ghosts and spirits with a setting in a cemetery that creates an eerie effect. This story has a few pleasant surprises that keep the reader totally involved. The final story, Lion and Lamb, is exceptional, inventive, has a sensual erotic ending, and is my personal favorite. Jac and Vic, two best friends, make a bet that within a month Jac can bed Vic's co-worker Christi, who is engaged to be married. The story takes some turns along the way. Jac wants out of the bet, but Vic won't let her. Hart develops convincing characters and a credible plot quickly in Lion and Lamb to hold our attention until the final pages, which is no small feat.

Any one of these stories could be expanded into a novel. Hart gives the reader a delicious taste of her genius for telling charming stories. Each one reveals a love story wrapped with a different setting, time or plot. I highly recommend Assorted Flavours for anyone who takes pleasure in reading wonderful fiction.