Black Wine [Paperback]

Candas Jane Dorsey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1997

An old woman hangs in a cage; a young woman slaves on a rich lord's estate. How does a woman discover and assert her identity in a primeval, barbaric world? From slave dens to merchant cities to isolated mountains, Candas Jane Dorsey's first novel is a powerful exploration of gender, identity, and freedom.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Winner of the 1997 William J. Crawford Memorial Award (for a first fantasy novel), this utopian, archetypal story follows five generations of women--from the monumental, sadistic despot to her great-great-granddaughter working in a warehouse--through their travels away from and toward one another. Loves and deaths are passed through the generations, collected on their successive journeys, each restless character setting others in motion as she seeks freedom and kinship. Candas Jane Dorsey's concise language is powerful, telling an intense story without emotional plateaus, only peaks and valleys, joy and grief. This is an involving, unsettling book. It is easily one of the best and most ambitious novels of 1996 and one that will provoke thought and conversation. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

An acclaimed poet and short-story writer in her native Canada, Dorsey is almost unknown in the States. That should change with the publication of this novel, her first. The narrative braids the lives of three women who are linked by their independent spirits as well as by blood. One is "the waif," a young slave whose strange dreams and troubling half-memories hint at a past she can't remember. When the waif is sold as a concubine to a prince in the distant northern Land of the Dark Isles, she begins a journey that will lead her to the secret of her past as well as to her future. Weaving the waif's tale with that of Essa, an adventurous young woman determined to find her mother, and the journal entries of a woman escaping a husband she neither loves nor wants, Dorsey creates a complex and human story about freedom, love and the need to retain one's own identity. The fantasy setting is stark, a world where the most brutal events are treated with cold matter-of-factness, but Dorsey's writing is strong, even unflinching. Those who enjoy the work of such popular feminist speculative fiction writers as Joanna Russ and Ursula K. Le Guin will find much to admire here. (Jan.) FYI: Dorsey is head of Tesseract Books, a leading Canadian SF publisher.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (November 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312865783
• ISBN-13: 978-0312865788
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,059,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely amazing book...., January 30, 2001

By 

Althea A. Morin "althea" (new york, ny USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Wine (Paperback)

I got this book as a birthday present from my sister.
As soon as I was done reading it (with that shuddering pleasure that only the absolute best books give you), I passed it back to her to read... and I still haven't got it back, because when she was done, she gave it to her boyfriend to read (someone who is not the biggest fantasy fan), and he won't read the very end, because "But once I finish it, it'll be over!"
I'm considering buying another copy, to re-read it and pass it on again to someone else.

It's amazing that 'Black Wine' is a first novel. The characters are complex enough to fully immerse yourself in their lives. The world is not some faux-medieval wish-fulfillment daydream, but a real, gritty and harsh land - that still somehow has the feel of one of your deepest dreams.
Recommended for fans of Ursula LeGuin, Margaret Atwood, and Sheri S. Tepper. (But having said that, I feel I should add that the "feminist" undercurrent of the book is neither distracting, nor does it leave you with that nasty "agenda" taste in your mouth.)

(oh, and they play Scrabble! Yay! (as Scrabble fanatics, both me & my sister got a big kick out of that!)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant., October 11, 2000

By 

"mairesiobhan" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Wine (Hardcover)

I have just finished this book- and I feel very lucky to have found it. With so much mediocre to good fiction and/or sf/fantasy around, Black Wine reminded me how enjoyable and transforming a really good book can be. I am reminded of Ursula le Guin- perhaps Russ. It is slightly confusing at the beginning, as it jumps between characters in the manner of a connected series of short stories. But I was delighted as I read on and realised exactly what Dorsey was doing. As for plot/ character/setting- set in a far future, or other world, on a continent with very different cultures in different regions. THere are the sailors, who fly the sky-ships (dirigibles) and have gene tech, allowing same sex couples or families of three parents etc to have children. There is the idyllic mountains, where people share everything, but then there is the SOuth, where no one touches one another, and a mother helps her toddler up after a fall with the end of her broom. And then there is the land ruled over by an evil despot, where slaves have their tongues cut out, and sadism, incest and violence is the norm. The book is first class, superbly and consistently written. i see from one of the reviews on this page that Black Wine may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I am stumped as to why! I think that the more people read this wonderful book- the better!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars drunk on black wine, August 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Wine (Paperback)

I loved this book! It was a challenge, but a facinating one. I thought of this as a mystery-who was related to whom and what it meant for everyone. I would have to disagree with the reviewer who wanted to know the "Point." I think this book highlights something that eventually confronts everyone, their past and how to deal (or not) with it.