Rites of First Blood [Paperback]

Karen Dale Wolman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1995

Sara Hansen, a New York lesbian doctor travels to the Amazon jungle to research a plant that boosts the immune system against AIDS. While hiking up a tributary of the Amazon River one morning, she gets involved in a hunting accident with the Onasaki. Living deep in the jungle, this is the matriarchal hunting and gathering tribe's first contact with Western civilization. Lost from her colleagues, Sara goes back with the tribe and becomes lovers with Olani, the shaman and healer to the Onasaki. While a search party gets closer and Olani battles with the poweful daughter of the tribal chief, Sara must decide between two lives.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Not unlike Sappho, Wolman's work revolves around intelligent, complex women seeking to understand themselves, each other, and love. -- New Times, July 24, 1999

Rather than...pitting Western values versus a "primitive" tribe, Wolman...easily carries the reader to the Brazilian rain forest. -- Gay and Lesbian Times, June 1995

The unique approach sets it far apart from typical lesbian fare. Fast moving, exciting. Occasionally funny and sometimes sexy. -- Women in Libraries, Spring 1997

About the Author

Award winning author Karen Dale Wolman's short stories appear in Girlfriends, Bad Attitude, Lesbian Bedtime Stories, Ten Percent and Harrington Lesbian Fiction Quarterly, among other publications. Look soon for her second novel, The Ancestor.

Product Details

• Paperback: 211 pages
• Publisher: Inland Womensource; 1st edition (May 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1882587081
• ISBN-13: 978-1882587087
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,792,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Book, June 16, 2001

By 

Jill Nolan (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rites of First Blood (Paperback)

Most lesbian novels are very formulaic, with no depth. Rites of First Blood is an amazingly intriguing story with love, passion, adventure, compassion and a deep exploration of fascinating issues. It's a sexy book, but it also made me think. What would you do if you found the person and life you loved, but keeping it meant completely abandoning everything you ever knew? I recommend this novel highly. Travel along as she opens her mind to explore healing, spirituality, love and strength in a tribe of women.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read This Book!, October 9, 2001

By 

Nancy (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rites of First Blood (Paperback)

I heard about this book at a party. I've read short stories by the author before in Lesbian Bedtime Stories and Dykescapes and they were pretty good, but this book took me to another world. Hot lesbians running around the jungle all cloaked in a shroud of spirituality!

I can't wait for her next book. Is The Ancestor the correct title? Does anyone know when it's coming out?

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Really good, January 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rites of First Blood (Paperback)

I read a selection of this book in another book. It was called Telling Mom. It was funny yet serious. It was the perfict monologue I was looking for. It was something that I showed all of my friends. If you are looking for a good book to use for Monologues I would say to use, The Actor's BOOK OF Monologues FOR Women.