Customer Reviews

Out of Time: A Novel

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

 

 

When I first got my hands on this book I wasn't sure if I'd like it, so I put it on my bookshelf. One day, bored with the norm, I picked it up, started reading, and couldn't put it down. Martinac does a wonderful job hiding a relationship in "transition" within a touching story about lesbians from the past. It's hard for many people to believe, but we've been around since the dawn of time.

I found it easy to get wrapped up in Susan's search for answers about "The Gang" while ghosts of Harriet and Lucy help Susan in her quest. This was not a typical lesbian romance, but I thoroughly enjoyed it all the same.

Recommended for a rainy day, accompained with a cup of hot tea and lemon cookies.

"Out of Time" is a beautiful story that delves into the past. Through an old photo album found in an antiques store, a woman begins a crusade to learn more about four women who lived in New York City long ago. While pursuing more information about these four women, Susan learns a lot about herself, and as a result, recognizes that her relationship is very much worthy of commitment.

I found this story to be very real and written by a woman who is a gifted writer. She conveys the story, and alludes to many things. I like stories that do that rather than beat me over the head with what is obvious. This writing shows me the story, rather than tells me. This is one of those books that I will forever keep on my shelf and pull it out and read it like the first time.

I was glad to see this book back in print, because it is delightfully written and cunningly put together. As Susan learns more about the past, she loses touch with the present. I think that has happened to everyone who has ever fallen in love with a picture or a story and wished they somehow knew how it all came out in the end. My only quibble is the unrealistic ending, but that was a small part of an otherwise inspired, unique novel.

a friend told me about this book just this morning and the premise alone got me outside long enough to pick it up and spend the day reading. It reads so true-to-life, especially for those who have been haunted by other's pasts and sensitive enough hear them. Someone should consider making this novel a movie -- each scene is vivid and compelling -- thank you Paula Martinac

Enjoyable fantasy that kept me turning the pages. Ironically, the fantasy part of the novel (in which Susan interacts with the ghosts of the past) comes across as the most realistic because the characters are more fully developed, and their situation rings true.
It is Susan's present-day relationship with Catherine that seems unreal, since it isn't fully developed. Also, the fact that Susan has several advanced degrees yet does nothing with them also did not seem true to life, especially since she is supposedly deep in debt. Was the author just trying to make the point that Susan was bright?
Another contrivance, in my opinion, was Margielove conveniently dying, and leaving her entire inheritance and store to Susan, who had just worked for her a short time. Bingo, Susan's financial difficulties are solved! We should all be so lucky! That was another distinct false note for me.
However, the story idea itself was delightful, and Lucy and Harriet give the story plenty of sparkle to make up for it! I'd loan this one to friends.

All I can say is what a wonderful book. I just called a friend and told her that I would be bringing her a book to read next time I saw her. I read it all today, feverishly bringing the book closer to my face hoping to consume the information and enter the world more completely.

I was skeptical of a book about ghosts, but the characters are so real and you feel yourself as entrenched in the search for information about the lives of these four women from another time as the protagonist.

Like Susan who is being cast into the world of the women she is researching you feel yourself plunged into her world unaware of the time passing as you read.

This novel is beautifully written, leaving me with inspiration to discover more about history and however crudely, document some of my own.

The delicious feeling that women loved each other in another time is the reward of reading this book. It's a thrill, so different from most ghost stories to read a good writer whose intrepid imagination doesn't shy away from asking "What was a kiss like in the 20's?" then startling us some time later with the answer pressed sensuously against her lips.
It reads easily and inevitably, even in its most unlikely plot turns, because the narrator has been found by spirits who kept their secrets while living, but are ready, as the world finally is, for them to be exposed.
A very fun read. I recommend it.

Normally I don't read ghost stories. In fact, much prefer
nonfiction and this book is about as far from that as one
can get. Nonetheless, I found this book quite delightful.
Maybe it is from the general void in lesbain fiction that
I found such appeal in Out of Time. It is well written
with humor and style, with a fascinating blend of past
and present, the real and unreal. Very enjoyable.