Customer Reviews

Considering Venus

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was given to me by a friend and I was very amazed a this book. I was very hard to put down. The story line was great. The author kept her audience focused. I was also impressed to see that it was written by a fellow Caribbean person. CONGRATULATIONS You did yourself proud. I recommended this book to a few people and they too were impressed by it. We even had a discussion about it and we have ne question, Where's the sequel???

Anyway D> GIsele Isaac, Congratulations on a book well done, I'm sure u will doi it again with a BANG!

Remember your audience is waiting for the sequel.

GOOD LUck

This book was okay, believable characters but there wasn't much depth. It was good if you had nothing else to read. The best thing was the dynamics between the two women, without that there would not have been much worth reading. I just did not think the writing style was great.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this book written by a fellow Antiguan in our local book store. This story of a gay woman falling for a woman who is not quite comfortable about being in a gay relationship, but not quite willing to give it up either, demonstrates that sometimes love shows up in unexpected places. It's about a 'normal' woman following her heart inspite of what her head and her family sometimes have to say about her life, and the heartache that accompanies making unpopular choices.

A truly delightful read. So strong were the character developments that I too wanted to call Cass while she was in Antigua. Where's the sequel?

Even as the lines appear, the hair turns a little lighter and the all the children are gone, a woman still needs love.

That's the underlying message of CONSIDERING VENUS, D. Gisele Isaac's story of love between two middle-aged women.

Antigua-born Cass is the lesbian who falls for Lesley after they reunite at their 25-year high school reunion. Only one problem: Lesley is a straight woman recently widowed with three adult children.

Seems unlikely that they'd fall in love--but they do--despite the fact that Lesley hasn't figured out if she's gay or straight, that she was married to a man for 23 years, and her grown children are very dependent on her.

They pursue a relationship in spite of all the barriers. Everything seems wonderful at first. Cass knows this is love, and while anxious and unsure at first, Lesley relishes their time together. That is until her children discover their affair; they selfishly scold her for becoming a "lesbian"--a badge they scorn her with like a scarlet letter--and accuse her of forgetting their father.

An interesting thing about the novel is that Lesley's sexuality is never defined. It's just love between two women--with no barriers.

Isaac has written a lovely book, with just the right fusion of prose and poetry make it a joy to read.

If D. Gisele Isaac wrote "jiggy poo poo" on a piece of paper, I'd want to read it. She has one of those writing styles that just draws you in and wraps you up in the flow of her words.
I felt like the characters in the book were real people that I could actually bump into if I went down to the road in the supermarket. Now lemme tell you bout the book:

Considering Venus explores the lives of a heterosexual widow, who finds herself falling in love, and teetering into a relationship with an old school friend who just happens to be a lesbian female.
The pair undergo the typical battles of a new "same sex" relationship as the story unfolds.

Now I have two BIG problems with this book. Number one: the book actually had an ending, I wanted to stay in Cass and Lesley' lives forever (no homo lol) and number two: WHEY THE SEQUEL SO LANG WOMAN!

Well, where to start. I must first give my deepest respect and gracious thanks to Ms. Isaac for this beautifully written book. The list of "mature" lesbian fiction is so short you need only one hand to count. This woman has scripted the blueprint for love in the "boomer" generation. I am not going to recount the plot, as everyone else is doing such a fine job, but I will make my personal comment from my heart. I, too, am an older, black woman who found love with another woman in my 50s. I was married and have children, but I always felt like something was missing - just couldn't put my finger on it. I eventually found my answer. This book describes all those feeling and offers a nice little storyline to boot. I also relate because I am black, older than a college student, not beat-the-door-down broke, but far from rich. I think lesbian-fiction readers are just regular people like myself, and everyone doesn't hike, dive, or support a 6 foot frame on lucious limbs! We're just regular and like to read about regular people in the plot. I really can't say what folks look for when they read books, but you find something different in each book; sometimes you can take a part of that book with you in your personal life and it will help you on your journey. I grew up in BK, NY so this setting made me enjoy the story all the more. I felt real good reading this story and watching Cassandra and Lesley wrangle with their emotions over each other and family. The road of life is most times difficult and we always try to determine how our choices will affect others, at least I do. This almost proved the undoing of Lesley, but she prevailed. There are no quick fixes in this story, just a comfortable, quiet read about trying to attain happiness. I truly loved this book and it will remain my favorite for personal reasons. Maybe you, too, dear readers, will feel the same. Three cheers and 5 stars to Considering Venus...we definitely need more, real life, believable mature books such as CV to make us feel good. Finally, every woman I introduced to this book really loved it.

I really enjoyed this book. It told a very genuine story about two people falling in love. Anyone who is curious as to how two women can fall in love should read this book. Clearly, the love, caring, compatibility, compassion, and respect that these two people share transcends gender.

Gisele's book explores the depth of confussion and mistrust associated with gay and lesbian affairs in our community detrimental to the lives of perfect human beings who happen to explore alternative sexual orientation. I applaude this great effort of a first time novelist and recommend the book to any one and all who doubt the humanity in these people.

To be a Woman. To be Black. To be Gay.

Ms. Isaac undertook a difficult task in dealing with a rather controversial subject, obviously a social situation which requires critical thinking and unbiased analysis of human emotions vis-à-vis social biases. She manages all that in her book, and more, with sensitivity and expertise. Without polemics or preaching, her understanding of her subject and skillful writing leave the reader with a sense of profound compassion and responsibility. I found it hard to put the book down.