The Gilda Stories [Paperback]

Jewelle Gomez (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The central character of this multiracial, feminist, lesbian vampire romance fantasy travels through time and leads multiple lives. Throughout her lives, Gilda is a woman of African descent with strong feminist traits and a sense of loyalty to her friends and family, both mortal and immortal. In her first life, she is a runaway slave in Louisiana in 1850, not yet a vampire, not yet named, who stabs a rapist/bounty hunter in self-defense. Rescued and adopted by Gilda, a vampire who runs a brothel, she soon becomes a vampire herself and adopts Gilda's name. Subsequent lives take Gilda to California in 1890, Missouri in 1921, Massachusetts in 1955, New York in 1981 where she does a stint as a cabaret singer, and into the future in New Hampshire in 2020 and up to the year 2050. Gomez provides an unusual twist to the erotic vampire novel, introducing issues of race and sexual preference, but there is no attempt to address these issues except as fodder for an ultimately uninteresting romance novel. This is Gomez's first novel; she is a poet and the author of Flamingoes and Bears.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The Gilda Stories is an elegant, sensual, and natural vampire fantasy. Time-traveling from Southern slavery in 1850 to environmental devastation 200 years later, Gilda is the quintessential outsider seeking community. Jewelle Gomez combines a natural flair for storyteller with an ability to weave tapestries of personality that grab the mind's imagination and won't let go. A memorable story, deftly told. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Firebrand Books (April 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 093237994X
• ISBN-13: 978-0932379948
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,339,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The taste of midnight, October 30, 2000

By 

"blissengine" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gilda Stories (Paperback)

This remarkable novel is about a runaway slavegirl in the 1850s who is befriended by 2 enigmatic women who run a brothel. The two women help the girl and make her like themselves, as vampires. The girl takes the name Gilda (from one of the two) and spends the next 200 years searching for a place to call home, for love, and for greater meaning in the world. Gomez has created an amazing tale that is utterly intriguing. I wanted to love it more, but sometimes the story almost worked against itself by moving too quickly from time period to time period without giving us (and Gilda) a chance to really connect. I heartily recommend this book because of the many thought-provoking points Gomez introduces. It's quite a tasty story.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Race, Gender, Class, Sexuality, and Family Values, June 25, 1998

By 

Professor (Middle Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gilda Stories (Paperback)

Definitely kinder, gentler vampires than vampire fans may be used to, and that's a wonderful recommendation in itself. In addition, the politics of race, gender, class, and sexuality abound. Black women's communities, women and work, lesbianism and women's friendships, black activism, and vampire subculture-as-gay/lesbian subculture are all parts of the impressive multicultural politics of this book. It's a great read, as well. My only critique is of what I consider its ultimate political statement as the novel ends: "family is the most important thing" (over work, politics, etc.). Though the novel redefines family in progressive ways, the emphasis on family is still a tad too conservative for me. However, this may also be a reflection of my personal jewish (middle-class) feminist politics meeting a form of black feminist politics and colliding a bit based upon race and class difference. Buy this compelling and important book and read it, then judge for yourself.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intense and moving vampire tale, November 29, 2001

By 

Kali Tal "Kali Tal" (From exile...) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gilda Stories: A Novel (Hardcover)

Jewelle Gomez departs from the usual vampire scenario, first because her vampire heroines are almost all female, and second because they are a truly diverse group. Instead of following the Euro-focused trend set by most vampire story authors (from Laurell Hamilton to Brian Lumley), Gomez crafts a believable multiracial and multicultural vampire tradition, embracing a gritty kind of realism and a compelling spiritual focus. The story begins like an historical novel, recreating the antebellum South, and moves through the present and into the far future, as befits a tale of immortals. One of the most interesting themes in the book is the gradual distancing of the immortal from strictly human concerns, and the necessity of maintaining one's connection with the emotions of hope, love, and compassion. This is an excellent read and highly recommended for those tired of vampire melodrama.