Customer Reviews

The Gilda Stories: A Novel

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

(With special guest appearance by Alice Dunbar Nelson!)

I've tried loaning this book to four different people. None of them seem interested in it until I start giving away what I consider to be the good bits. You've been warned.

Gomez writes feminist vampires and portrays a kinder, gentler vampirism than I'm used to. They have small clan-like societies based on philosophy of life rather than ability. The act of drinking blood isn't a near-rape for one clan, but a "sharing." These vampires leave hopes, dreams and inspiration to the random people upon whom they feed. Rather than murder, Gilda herself may have saved a life through her hunger.

The book follows Gilda from the late 1800's through to the early 2000's. It also follows her small cell of vampire family from a time when they were the stuff of legend to their exposure.

This is a fine book. It's the first I've read that actually uses the idea of running water as a problem for vampires, or the passing on of a name and legend from one vampire to the other. Gomez's writing is clear and somewhat poetic, and her ideas are sweet enough to even make the legendary bloodsucking demons of the night seem like kind, gentle, neighborly folk. Please read it.

Gilda begins her tales as a nameless runaway slave in Louisiana during the 1850's. This, however, is only the precursor to Jewelle Gomez's fantastic collection of a refreshing take on the fabled vampire. The subject matter captivated me at first - a novel about a black lesbian vampire in the 1850's, but I found that first impressions can be deceiving and that The Gilda Stories was much more than a series of horror fiction. Jewelle Gomez sets up a much different hierarchy of the vampiric world - where vampires are humane noble creatures, who only kill in self-defense, only take the blood they need and always leave something in exchange. One will find that the true victims in The Gilda Stories are the vampires themselves, trying to co-exist peacefully with the world they inhabit.

The character, Gilda is a wonderful heroine. Her stories are independent of each other, seperated by decades at a time, as she wanders across the United States in search of a sense of family, home and the love of her tutor, the Native American woman, Bird. One must realize that this story is not just a vampire's memoirs. Her stories deal with racism, class and the bridges in between. Gilda herself, is a minority amongst a minority - being one of the only black vampires in existence. The elements of sexuality deeply suggest Gilda's lesbianism, though the fine lines of sexuality blur amongst the vampire community. Much like in Anne Rice's interpretation, sexuality and romantic partnerships are conjoined by mental bonds and the ideals of companionship. Gilda's true inability is to love or make love to a mortal, but amongst the vampiric community, it seems that either gender is fair game.

Each of Jewelle Gomez's stories seem independent of each other, despite Gilda's memories of past characters. While some of the stories are center around the dangers in the vampire community and can be quite action packed, other stories bare deep into Gilda's connection with others. Gilda's and Bird's relationship center on most of the sub-plot. Bird acted as mother, teacher and at times lover to Gilda, but abandons her early on. Gilda laments on Bird's disappearance for much of the book and Bird's name resurfaces amongst other members of the vampire aristocracy and even shows up to help Gilda kill a ruthless foe in the Boston chapter. Still, Gilda's history is more nomadic than anything and the reader will see sides of the world through both innocent and wise eyes.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone who is a fan of the vampire genre. I found The Gilda Stories to be a most enjoyable alternative to the mass endeavor that is Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. The Gilda Stories is well written, engaging and offers a lighter tones to a very dark world, but still installs plenty of mystery and suspense. This is a milestone for the feminist press, Firebrand Books, and is a must-read for the new young generations of readers and writers.

This book delves into the mysteries of life, including love, romance, loss of love, and death. It's a very compelling novel that looks into how women think and feel about others. I promise you won't be putting this one down easily!

I read Jewel's book when it first came out in 1991 and one thing that has stayed with me in the past 16 years is the memory of the following passage when she instructs the girl she raised as a vampire.

"And as you take from them you must reach inside. Feel what they are needing, not what you are hungering for. You leave them with something new and fresh, something wanted. Let their joy fill you. This is the only way to share and not to rob."

Jewel shared with us something that is very much lacking in the world today.