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Disturbed by Her Song
Disturbed By Her Song collects the work of Esther Garber and her half-brother Judas Garbah, the mysterious family of writers that Tanith Lee has been channeling for the past few years. Possibly autobiographical, frequently erotic and darkly surreal, their fiction takes place in a variety of eras and places, from Egypt in the 1940s, to England in the grip of the Pre-Raphaelites, to gaslit Paris and to the shadowy landscapes carved by the mind and memory. The themes of youth and age stream through these tales of homosexual love and desire. These stories recall, at times, the work of Lawrence Durrell, Colette, and Angela Carter. A finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBT Speculative Fiction.
205 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
519 people want to read
About the author
Tanith Lee
615 books1,965 followersTanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.
Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.
Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.
Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.
Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.
Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.
Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.
Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.
Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.
Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.
Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
August 7, 2020
IGNORE THE COVER OF THIS BOOK! *
I mean, it is a perfectly good cover, nicely grotesque and creepy, but it is in no way representative of the stories within. No doubt certain mercenary publishers hoped to capitalize on Tanith Lee's reputation for gothic strangeness. Thus, the interesting but misguided cover.
This is my first experience reading relatively mainstream, I suppose "literary" fiction by one of my all-time favorite authors. Although "literary" is the wrong word. Let's be clear mark, these are romantic stories about love and sex, no need to be shy, you have nothing against romance, at least not theoretically.
Disturbed by Her Song is a collection of romantic queer fiction. Men on men, women on women, or just another Thursday for Tanith Lee. Her skills are in full effect. Except for the first story, there are basically no supernatural or fantasy elements. Surprise! Well for me at least. These are beautifully written gems, despite a certain smallness to some of them (and therefore 3 stars, due to the minor note nature of most of these stories). The prose enchants, per usual for the author.
For some reason, the author decided to use a not so great literary device of these stories being "told" to her by the two cover characters - siblings, both queer, who Tanith Lee "met" - and man I'm getting tired of using quotation marks, so enough mark. The literary conceit is unnecessary and rather distracting. Too meta, too twee. Honestly, also a little amateurish. Anyway.
Although all the stories were artful, there were three that really shined:
"Black-Eyed Susan" - the reserved new maid at a decrepit hotel finds some hot & sexy times in the arms of a fellow maid, but much more importantly, notices that there is an attractive spirit walking about - perhaps ? This was an absorbing tale and gave me that great feeling of wanting to follow the protagonist off on future strange, hot adventures.
"The X's Are Not Kisses" - I loved this story about the breakdown and potential regeneration of the romance between a young bookseller and her perhaps fey (or perhaps not) paramour, a musician. I actually shed some tears over the intense emotion on display, and here I thought my tear well was dry.
"Death and the Maiden" - oh boy, this was delightfully bizarre and sinister, despite having no overt horror elements. A forthright woman is swept off her feet by a handsome, even more forthright Lady of a Manor, except it is all a long-game plot to help that Lady's daughter not be such a doormat. But it's so much more - identities taking over each other, the way that some women internalize and then enact the misogyny of some men upon other women, topping from the bottom, maternal bonds vs. romantic bonds... so much to enjoy. Also quite hot.
* drunk review, sorry for the all caps! also, apologies for the overuse of quotation marks & "hot" oops did it again
I mean, it is a perfectly good cover, nicely grotesque and creepy, but it is in no way representative of the stories within. No doubt certain mercenary publishers hoped to capitalize on Tanith Lee's reputation for gothic strangeness. Thus, the interesting but misguided cover.
This is my first experience reading relatively mainstream, I suppose "literary" fiction by one of my all-time favorite authors. Although "literary" is the wrong word. Let's be clear mark, these are romantic stories about love and sex, no need to be shy, you have nothing against romance, at least not theoretically.
Disturbed by Her Song is a collection of romantic queer fiction. Men on men, women on women, or just another Thursday for Tanith Lee. Her skills are in full effect. Except for the first story, there are basically no supernatural or fantasy elements. Surprise! Well for me at least. These are beautifully written gems, despite a certain smallness to some of them (and therefore 3 stars, due to the minor note nature of most of these stories). The prose enchants, per usual for the author.
For some reason, the author decided to use a not so great literary device of these stories being "told" to her by the two cover characters - siblings, both queer, who Tanith Lee "met" - and man I'm getting tired of using quotation marks, so enough mark. The literary conceit is unnecessary and rather distracting. Too meta, too twee. Honestly, also a little amateurish. Anyway.
Although all the stories were artful, there were three that really shined:
"Black-Eyed Susan" - the reserved new maid at a decrepit hotel finds some hot & sexy times in the arms of a fellow maid, but much more importantly, notices that there is an attractive spirit walking about - perhaps ? This was an absorbing tale and gave me that great feeling of wanting to follow the protagonist off on future strange, hot adventures.
"The X's Are Not Kisses" - I loved this story about the breakdown and potential regeneration of the romance between a young bookseller and her perhaps fey (or perhaps not) paramour, a musician. I actually shed some tears over the intense emotion on display, and here I thought my tear well was dry.
"Death and the Maiden" - oh boy, this was delightfully bizarre and sinister, despite having no overt horror elements. A forthright woman is swept off her feet by a handsome, even more forthright Lady of a Manor, except it is all a long-game plot to help that Lady's daughter not be such a doormat. But it's so much more - identities taking over each other, the way that some women internalize and then enact the misogyny of some men upon other women, topping from the bottom, maternal bonds vs. romantic bonds... so much to enjoy. Also quite hot.
* drunk review, sorry for the all caps! also, apologies for the overuse of quotation marks & "hot" oops did it again
September 22, 2018
The more I read Tanith Lee, the more I fall in love with her writing. Disturbed by Her Song is a linked collection of stories by Tanith Lee, writing as herself and with her alter egos Esther Garber and Judas Garbah. In the introduction Lee explains how this curious relationship works and it provides an intriguing opening for the anthology.
There are nine stories in total, set in various times and places (Rome, England, Egypt). All of them are evocative, moving, darkly surreal, lush and deliciously erotic. Tanith Lee is at the top of her game, it does not get better than this.
If I have to give my preference, I would say the stories written as Esther Garber resonate with me the most. In particular:
Black Eyed Susan (read before in the Heiresses of Russ anthology) - a hotel chambermaid obsesses over a woman she’s seen wandering the halls of the hotel. Is she a ghost?
Death and the Maiden is a fascinating story about a woman who falls in love with the wife of a famous and scandalous Pre-Raphaelite painter. The wife, however, has an unusual request pertaining to her sickly, troubled daughter.
And lastly Disturbed by her Song - where an actress is secretly in love with a colleague her whole life but her feelings are never reciprocated nor noticed.
f/f, m/m – nothing graphic
Themes: obsession, unrequited love, Paris, Egypt, seduction, Tanith Lee’s writing is eccentric as hell and I love that.
5 stars
There are nine stories in total, set in various times and places (Rome, England, Egypt). All of them are evocative, moving, darkly surreal, lush and deliciously erotic. Tanith Lee is at the top of her game, it does not get better than this.
If I have to give my preference, I would say the stories written as Esther Garber resonate with me the most. In particular:
Black Eyed Susan (read before in the Heiresses of Russ anthology) - a hotel chambermaid obsesses over a woman she’s seen wandering the halls of the hotel. Is she a ghost?
Death and the Maiden is a fascinating story about a woman who falls in love with the wife of a famous and scandalous Pre-Raphaelite painter. The wife, however, has an unusual request pertaining to her sickly, troubled daughter.
And lastly Disturbed by her Song - where an actress is secretly in love with a colleague her whole life but her feelings are never reciprocated nor noticed.
f/f, m/m – nothing graphic
Themes: obsession, unrequited love, Paris, Egypt, seduction, Tanith Lee’s writing is eccentric as hell and I love that.
5 stars
August 5, 2010
"The Crow," "The Kiss" and "Ne Que V'on Desir" are among the finest texts Ms. Lee has written--magical, dark and erotic. "Black Eyed Susan" and "Death and the Maiden" are a kind of lesbian gothic fiction, while the title story will bring a tear to the reader's eyes.
August 23, 2011
Tanith Lee is a legend among fantasy writers and the author of over ninety novels. Her work has been attracting a cult following since the 1970s, when she sold her first book to DAW Press. Her tales are elaborate, and her words are as carefully chosen as precious jewels. Her eccentricities can be forgiven.
As an example of her quirks, she claims that this collection of stories was co-written by two other people. In “Meeting the Garbers,” Tanith Lee claims:
“I first met the Garbers in the 1990s; that is, I met Esther [who then ‘wrote’ two books], and her brother, Judas. Anna didn’t turn up, though she subsequently sent me a polite and kindly note.”
Why Anna chose to send the author a note instead of “turning up” is a mystery. None of the Garbers (two Jewish sisters and their half-Arabian half-brother, who spells the family name differently) is real. They are two or three alter egos of Tanith Lee.
All the stories in this book include same-sex relationships, so the use of several writing personae (including that of a gay man) serves the illusion that these stories are based on the direct experience of characters other than the author.
One theme that runs through this book is the contrast between youth and age, or between the chutzpah of the young and the world-weariness of those with more experience. In "Black-Eyed Susan," supposedly co-written by Esther Garber, young Esther goes to work as a maid in a shabbily genteel, nearly-empty hotel in a French town in winter. A silent woman with coal-black eyes can be seen walking down the corridors from time to time. Esther wonders if she is a ghost or simply an illusion, but comes to suspect that she is the younger spirit of an old woman who is part of the history of the hotel. In her prime, the dark-eyed woman was sexually attracted to women--like Esther.
In "Alexandrians," Judas Garbah remembers his neglected childhood in Egypt, and the male friend of his mother who noticed him and explained something:
"I'll teach you two new words. A woman who loves another woman is called for an island, Lesbos, a Lesbian. But a man who loves another man is called for Alexander, who was the son of a god, and loved men, and for his city by the sea, Alexandria. . . . Will you be an Alexandrian, Judas?"
Judas was unable to answer that question at the time, but as an adult, he remembers this conversation and the tingling touch of the man who paid attention to him.
None of these stories includes explicit sex, but eroticism runs all through them, and desire is shown to be the stuff of life. Yearning for the body and the soul of another person is shown to be the thread that connects the present with the past as it offers a way to transcend each person’s essential isolation.
The title story, "Disturbed by Her Song," is the most haunting. Few writers could describe a one-sided crush at such length so movingly. Georgina, a minor singer/actress, first meets fellow-actress Sula Dale when both are in their twenties. Georgina is impressed with Sula's performance in a classical Greek play. Georgina tries to cultivate a friendship with her, but Sula doesn't respond. Over decades, Georgina dreams about Sula and wishes she could sing for her. After several unsuccessful relationships with other women, Georgina writes a play for Sula to star in. Sula is grateful for the work, but doesn't seem to remember meeting Georgina before.
The key to the puzzle of this non-relationship is provided by an older man in the theatre world, someone Georgina respects. He tells a story within the story:
"'Once upon a time,' Marc said to them. . . 'there was a princess, outside whose high bedroom window a nightingale sang every night from a tree, a pomegranate, or perhaps a blossoming plum.
'While the nightingale sang, the princess slept deeply and well. . . However there came a night when the nightingale, for reasons of its own, did not sing but flew far away. In the morning the princess summoned a gardener and commanded that the tree be cut down. He protested, saying the tree was young, healthy and fruitful. But the princess would have none of that. She told him that all that one previous night a nightingale had perched in the tree, and her sleep had been very much disturbed by its song.'"
The group of friends who hear this story in a restaurant discuss its meaning. Years later, Georgina remembers the conversation and realizes that she and Sula have each been a kind of absent presence for each other.
Tanith Lee's fiction always has the uncanny quality of dreams and fantasies, even when it seems to take place in the real world. She tells teaching stories whose lessons seem to hover somewhere just out of reach. If you haven't read her work before, you've been deprived.
--------------
As an example of her quirks, she claims that this collection of stories was co-written by two other people. In “Meeting the Garbers,” Tanith Lee claims:
“I first met the Garbers in the 1990s; that is, I met Esther [who then ‘wrote’ two books], and her brother, Judas. Anna didn’t turn up, though she subsequently sent me a polite and kindly note.”
Why Anna chose to send the author a note instead of “turning up” is a mystery. None of the Garbers (two Jewish sisters and their half-Arabian half-brother, who spells the family name differently) is real. They are two or three alter egos of Tanith Lee.
All the stories in this book include same-sex relationships, so the use of several writing personae (including that of a gay man) serves the illusion that these stories are based on the direct experience of characters other than the author.
One theme that runs through this book is the contrast between youth and age, or between the chutzpah of the young and the world-weariness of those with more experience. In "Black-Eyed Susan," supposedly co-written by Esther Garber, young Esther goes to work as a maid in a shabbily genteel, nearly-empty hotel in a French town in winter. A silent woman with coal-black eyes can be seen walking down the corridors from time to time. Esther wonders if she is a ghost or simply an illusion, but comes to suspect that she is the younger spirit of an old woman who is part of the history of the hotel. In her prime, the dark-eyed woman was sexually attracted to women--like Esther.
In "Alexandrians," Judas Garbah remembers his neglected childhood in Egypt, and the male friend of his mother who noticed him and explained something:
"I'll teach you two new words. A woman who loves another woman is called for an island, Lesbos, a Lesbian. But a man who loves another man is called for Alexander, who was the son of a god, and loved men, and for his city by the sea, Alexandria. . . . Will you be an Alexandrian, Judas?"
Judas was unable to answer that question at the time, but as an adult, he remembers this conversation and the tingling touch of the man who paid attention to him.
None of these stories includes explicit sex, but eroticism runs all through them, and desire is shown to be the stuff of life. Yearning for the body and the soul of another person is shown to be the thread that connects the present with the past as it offers a way to transcend each person’s essential isolation.
The title story, "Disturbed by Her Song," is the most haunting. Few writers could describe a one-sided crush at such length so movingly. Georgina, a minor singer/actress, first meets fellow-actress Sula Dale when both are in their twenties. Georgina is impressed with Sula's performance in a classical Greek play. Georgina tries to cultivate a friendship with her, but Sula doesn't respond. Over decades, Georgina dreams about Sula and wishes she could sing for her. After several unsuccessful relationships with other women, Georgina writes a play for Sula to star in. Sula is grateful for the work, but doesn't seem to remember meeting Georgina before.
The key to the puzzle of this non-relationship is provided by an older man in the theatre world, someone Georgina respects. He tells a story within the story:
"'Once upon a time,' Marc said to them. . . 'there was a princess, outside whose high bedroom window a nightingale sang every night from a tree, a pomegranate, or perhaps a blossoming plum.
'While the nightingale sang, the princess slept deeply and well. . . However there came a night when the nightingale, for reasons of its own, did not sing but flew far away. In the morning the princess summoned a gardener and commanded that the tree be cut down. He protested, saying the tree was young, healthy and fruitful. But the princess would have none of that. She told him that all that one previous night a nightingale had perched in the tree, and her sleep had been very much disturbed by its song.'"
The group of friends who hear this story in a restaurant discuss its meaning. Years later, Georgina remembers the conversation and realizes that she and Sula have each been a kind of absent presence for each other.
Tanith Lee's fiction always has the uncanny quality of dreams and fantasies, even when it seems to take place in the real world. She tells teaching stories whose lessons seem to hover somewhere just out of reach. If you haven't read her work before, you've been deprived.
--------------
June 24, 2014
Black Eyed Susan
A hotel chambermaid develops an obsession with the possibly-ghostly figure of a lovely woman, seen wandering the halls. In the face of her fascination, her ambiguous and exploitative relationships with her coworkers and employers fade into unimportance.
The Kiss
A brief piece about a woman who tells a sentimental lie to avoid a gay-bashing. Old-fashioned, but unfortunately the issues it brings up poignantly are all-too-current.
Ne Que V'on Desir
A man has a brief affair on a train, but his perceptions of what has happened are abruptly changed by hearsay.
The x's Are Not Kisses
When her girlfriend leaves on a trip to see an old friend, a woman is consumed with a burning jealousy, fanned into suicidal flames by the discovery of some frankly erotic letters found in her private office. Ends on a sweet and love-affirming note - but the protagonist here is simply too weak and annoying for me to have any sympathy.
Alexandrians
A strange, short piece about an unloved young boy, the son of a prostitute, and his first awareness of his own sexuality.
Death and the Maiden
A woman's interest is caught by the elegant Vera Blaze, the society wife of the renowned and scandalous Pre-Raphaelite painter John Blaze. Unfortunately for her, Vera requests that she seduce her daughter, a bizarrely troubled young woman who harbors an unhealthy obsession with her ethically repugnant father. This one reminded me of Elizabeth Hand...
Fleurs en Hiver
Short-short about a brief fascination with a woman glimpsed in a restaurant.
The Crow
Echoes of fairytales resound in this short piece about two men, sharing a troubled relationship, who meet an old man in the woods.
Disturbed by her Song
An actress spends her life in love with a colleague who never notices, let alone reciprocates, her feelings. Like in so many of Lee's pieces, she does an excellent job of elevating sad - even pathetic - human emotions and behaviors to the realm of the mythic.
I suppose I should mention the conceit of this book, which is that the stories are supposedly from the point of view, not of 'Tanith Lee' but of her characters, Esther Garber and Judas Garbah. Personally, I find it wholly unnecessary: these stories are clearly by Lee and no one else, and do not differ from her other work in any notable way.
That's just fine, since I love Lee's writing.
A hotel chambermaid develops an obsession with the possibly-ghostly figure of a lovely woman, seen wandering the halls. In the face of her fascination, her ambiguous and exploitative relationships with her coworkers and employers fade into unimportance.
The Kiss
A brief piece about a woman who tells a sentimental lie to avoid a gay-bashing. Old-fashioned, but unfortunately the issues it brings up poignantly are all-too-current.
Ne Que V'on Desir
A man has a brief affair on a train, but his perceptions of what has happened are abruptly changed by hearsay.
The x's Are Not Kisses
When her girlfriend leaves on a trip to see an old friend, a woman is consumed with a burning jealousy, fanned into suicidal flames by the discovery of some frankly erotic letters found in her private office. Ends on a sweet and love-affirming note - but the protagonist here is simply too weak and annoying for me to have any sympathy.
Alexandrians
A strange, short piece about an unloved young boy, the son of a prostitute, and his first awareness of his own sexuality.
Death and the Maiden
A woman's interest is caught by the elegant Vera Blaze, the society wife of the renowned and scandalous Pre-Raphaelite painter John Blaze. Unfortunately for her, Vera requests that she seduce her daughter, a bizarrely troubled young woman who harbors an unhealthy obsession with her ethically repugnant father. This one reminded me of Elizabeth Hand...
Fleurs en Hiver
Short-short about a brief fascination with a woman glimpsed in a restaurant.
The Crow
Echoes of fairytales resound in this short piece about two men, sharing a troubled relationship, who meet an old man in the woods.
Disturbed by her Song
An actress spends her life in love with a colleague who never notices, let alone reciprocates, her feelings. Like in so many of Lee's pieces, she does an excellent job of elevating sad - even pathetic - human emotions and behaviors to the realm of the mythic.
I suppose I should mention the conceit of this book, which is that the stories are supposedly from the point of view, not of 'Tanith Lee' but of her characters, Esther Garber and Judas Garbah. Personally, I find it wholly unnecessary: these stories are clearly by Lee and no one else, and do not differ from her other work in any notable way.
That's just fine, since I love Lee's writing.
September 25, 2013
Tanith Lee is at the very top of her game in this glorious trip into the adventures and loves of the Garber/Garbah family. Whether she really is channeling them or they are an awakened part of her psyche doesn't matter - her deft storytelling, original take on everything and sensual imagery are all present in bucketloads.
You get an introduction too - she offers us just a fragment of her un-fictionalised self, and oh how I wish she'd write an autobiography!
I'm biased. I love everything she does.
A couple of decades ago I reached up in a charity shop to look at 'The Book of the Damned'. The first page hit me the way literature so rarely does when one is adult - this is speaking directly to my essential self - I must read this as soon as possible...
I was broke at the time and there was no internet. The two libraries nearest to me had one Lee each and I read both over and over again. When things improved I bought all the Lees I could afford, and she has never let me down, though of course I love some more than others.
It was thanks to Lee that I met the Non-existent Didsbury Library Cat. I was sitting re-reading Vivia, when suddenly I yelped - something warm had brushed against my legs....it was the most beautiful and unruffled white cat. S/he allowed me to stroke and talk to her/him for a bit.
When I left, I mentioned to the librarians how lovely the cat was.
"Oh, there's no cat here," said one, and the other shook her head, both smiling agreement.
They were stroking the cat, which was sitting on their desk, as they said it.
"Health and safety - we can't have animals coming in here," the other librarian explained.
"So there is no cat here."
"There certainly isn't," I agreed gravely, and gave it a final tickle under the chin before leaving.
I hope that I meet Tanith one day, to thank her, and to tell her about the cat. She has a beautiful smile, and I'd like to cause it.
You get an introduction too - she offers us just a fragment of her un-fictionalised self, and oh how I wish she'd write an autobiography!
I'm biased. I love everything she does.
A couple of decades ago I reached up in a charity shop to look at 'The Book of the Damned'. The first page hit me the way literature so rarely does when one is adult - this is speaking directly to my essential self - I must read this as soon as possible...
I was broke at the time and there was no internet. The two libraries nearest to me had one Lee each and I read both over and over again. When things improved I bought all the Lees I could afford, and she has never let me down, though of course I love some more than others.
It was thanks to Lee that I met the Non-existent Didsbury Library Cat. I was sitting re-reading Vivia, when suddenly I yelped - something warm had brushed against my legs....it was the most beautiful and unruffled white cat. S/he allowed me to stroke and talk to her/him for a bit.
When I left, I mentioned to the librarians how lovely the cat was.
"Oh, there's no cat here," said one, and the other shook her head, both smiling agreement.
They were stroking the cat, which was sitting on their desk, as they said it.
"Health and safety - we can't have animals coming in here," the other librarian explained.
"So there is no cat here."
"There certainly isn't," I agreed gravely, and gave it a final tickle under the chin before leaving.
I hope that I meet Tanith one day, to thank her, and to tell her about the cat. She has a beautiful smile, and I'd like to cause it.
August 5, 2016
A series of interconnected surreal short stories told by two queer narrators about love, time, prejudice and spirituality. Like other stuff by Tanith Lee, the writing style is lyrical, highly personal and slightly eccentric, & the characters are complex and interesting.
p.s. Tanith Lee seems to be out of fashion these days, but imho despite her occasional flaws she is a much more original fantasist than the likes of Neil Gaiman.
p.s. Tanith Lee seems to be out of fashion these days, but imho despite her occasional flaws she is a much more original fantasist than the likes of Neil Gaiman.
Read
April 25, 2013Tanith Lee is a writer who has always inspired strong reactions in me. When she hits, she hits it out of the park. And when she misses she bangs you in the face heavily with a bat. There appears to be no middle ground. I’m not sure how best to characterise Disturbed by her Song, as it seems to defy any particular genre classification - some of the stories involve the supernatural, either explicitly or implicitly, and some of them don’t, thought they all have an elusive, tantalising, other-worldly air to them. So let's go with 'queer, surrealistic and semi-fantastical.'
I’m not a big fan of short stories in general, which I know makes me a philistine, but it’s a personal preference thing, not a judgement thing. I like to be able to swim about in a text; short-stories barely dampen the feet. But the transitory, fragmentary feel of Disturbed by her Song contributes to the eerie pleasure of reading the book - one of the few instances when wanting more and not getting it is the right sort of literary gratification.
Moreover, the stories - although they each stand alone - are united and contextualised by their common themes, and the fact that they drift in and out of a fictionalised reality. The collection, which is broken into parts, ‘Youth and Age’, ‘Youth’ and ‘Age’, consists of stories and/or remembrances, ‘written’ by Esther and Judas Garber / Garbah, who are half-siblings. I mean, obviously they’re written by Tanith Lee, writing as Esther and Judas, but it provides an extremely effective meta-text. Esther and Judas have markedly different voices - Judas is distant and somewhat melancholy whereas Esther is frank and more expressive - but remain united by familial connection and experience. Equally the boundary between fiction and ‘reality’ remains vague at best, so, whether as characters, narrators, or writers they remain intriguingly unreliable figures, layering text on text on text, with Lee somewhere at the bottom of it all.
Like most story collections, your mileage may vary on an individual basis, but holistically I found Disturbed by her Song rather dazzling. The truth is, there’s a deep pleasure in reading a text set within a fully queer context. It’s one of the things I remember find warm-fuzziest about David Levithan’s Boy Meets Boy. This is not say everyone in a fictional world has to be gay, but it’s just plain nice when same-sex desire is permitted to be normalised as well as explored.
On the other hand, Disturbed by her Song has - frankly - the weirdest prologue I’ve ever encountered. It’s several pages long and begins with Lee telling us something about the lives and characteristics of Esther and Judas, as though she’s constructing her own Wikipedia page. Then reveals they don’t actually exist and they’re people she’s made up in her head (no shit) and burbles on about how they’re, like, totally real to her and she has to write all their stuff down longhand because that’s how they would do it. And finally she wraps up by explaining that they are, like, her but not her, split from her and yet she’s drawn to them, and she, like, met them first in a dream- OH WHAT THE FUCK? COME ON? I guess it’s basically harmless writerly bullshit but I could have done without having to read it. I also genuinely can’t tell if she’s freaking out and trying not to freak out about the fact she’s writing queer stories as a straight woman and doesn’t want to come across as appropriative:
I do respect that, and I appreciate that a writer might feel uncomfortable about it. On the other hand, the way I see it, if you’re writing queer-friendly stuff and it’s DAMN GOOD, then I think pretending to be channeling two imaginary people who are like totally you but not you is on the borderline of offensive when just WRITING isn’t. I mean, sheesh, this came out in 2009 - I like to think most people could pick up some queer fantasy and not have to have it painfully explained to them where it came from.
But, anyway, I’ll forgive Tanith Lee a hell of a lot. Because I love her. Even when she’s being weird.
I'm not going to analyse every single story because that'd be dull as all hell but my favourite stories were Black Eyed Susan, Ne Que V'on Desir, Death and the Maiden, and Disturbed by her Song.
Black Eyed Susan is a delicious little lesbian ghost story, ‘written’ by Esther (though told in the first person, as herself, so it hovers on the fiction/reality precipice). It’s gloriously creepy and has a lovely old-world feel, like a piece of Victorian gothic. Esther - either as character or narrator - gets a job at a creepy Parisian hotel, where she has an affair with one of the other servant girls and falls for a ghost called Black Eyed Susan. That summary does not remotely do this story justice. The hotel, and its strange, often hostile denizens, are exquisitely portrayed in a few deft sentences - the Mademoiselle Coudeban, for example, who has a ‘scalpel of an eye’ and sits around sewing peculiar items the narrator characterises as ‘bags for octopuses’ or the excellently named Madame Ghoule who needs no further elucidation. Ne Que V'on Desir is a werewolf story that never once mentions the word werewolf ... uhh, guess I just spoiled it but, no, it's totally obvious. Judas has a wonderful voice, strange and broken, and melancholy and beautiful. I kind of have something of a crush on the poor bastard. Also the commingling of violence and eroticism, alienation, homosexuality and lycanthropy works insanely well. Death and the Maiden is stunningly creepy exploration of art, eroticism, gender and identity. And Disturbed By Her Song is completely heartbreaking.
I could babble on about this book for ages - I really really did love it. Please, Tanith Lee, keep channelling your imaginary gay people if this what results.
I’m not a big fan of short stories in general, which I know makes me a philistine, but it’s a personal preference thing, not a judgement thing. I like to be able to swim about in a text; short-stories barely dampen the feet. But the transitory, fragmentary feel of Disturbed by her Song contributes to the eerie pleasure of reading the book - one of the few instances when wanting more and not getting it is the right sort of literary gratification.
Moreover, the stories - although they each stand alone - are united and contextualised by their common themes, and the fact that they drift in and out of a fictionalised reality. The collection, which is broken into parts, ‘Youth and Age’, ‘Youth’ and ‘Age’, consists of stories and/or remembrances, ‘written’ by Esther and Judas Garber / Garbah, who are half-siblings. I mean, obviously they’re written by Tanith Lee, writing as Esther and Judas, but it provides an extremely effective meta-text. Esther and Judas have markedly different voices - Judas is distant and somewhat melancholy whereas Esther is frank and more expressive - but remain united by familial connection and experience. Equally the boundary between fiction and ‘reality’ remains vague at best, so, whether as characters, narrators, or writers they remain intriguingly unreliable figures, layering text on text on text, with Lee somewhere at the bottom of it all.
Like most story collections, your mileage may vary on an individual basis, but holistically I found Disturbed by her Song rather dazzling. The truth is, there’s a deep pleasure in reading a text set within a fully queer context. It’s one of the things I remember find warm-fuzziest about David Levithan’s Boy Meets Boy. This is not say everyone in a fictional world has to be gay, but it’s just plain nice when same-sex desire is permitted to be normalised as well as explored.
On the other hand, Disturbed by her Song has - frankly - the weirdest prologue I’ve ever encountered. It’s several pages long and begins with Lee telling us something about the lives and characteristics of Esther and Judas, as though she’s constructing her own Wikipedia page. Then reveals they don’t actually exist and they’re people she’s made up in her head (no shit) and burbles on about how they’re, like, totally real to her and she has to write all their stuff down longhand because that’s how they would do it. And finally she wraps up by explaining that they are, like, her but not her, split from her and yet she’s drawn to them, and she, like, met them first in a dream- OH WHAT THE FUCK? COME ON? I guess it’s basically harmless writerly bullshit but I could have done without having to read it. I also genuinely can’t tell if she’s freaking out and trying not to freak out about the fact she’s writing queer stories as a straight woman and doesn’t want to come across as appropriative:
“That they are both gay is decidedly not the reason. I have written about Lesbian and male homosexual aspiration, love, lust and longing in several other places. Just as I’ve written about and as, ‘straight’ women and men, gifted sorcerers, murderers, gods, demons and saints...”
I do respect that, and I appreciate that a writer might feel uncomfortable about it. On the other hand, the way I see it, if you’re writing queer-friendly stuff and it’s DAMN GOOD, then I think pretending to be channeling two imaginary people who are like totally you but not you is on the borderline of offensive when just WRITING isn’t. I mean, sheesh, this came out in 2009 - I like to think most people could pick up some queer fantasy and not have to have it painfully explained to them where it came from.
But, anyway, I’ll forgive Tanith Lee a hell of a lot. Because I love her. Even when she’s being weird.
I'm not going to analyse every single story because that'd be dull as all hell but my favourite stories were Black Eyed Susan, Ne Que V'on Desir, Death and the Maiden, and Disturbed by her Song.
Black Eyed Susan is a delicious little lesbian ghost story, ‘written’ by Esther (though told in the first person, as herself, so it hovers on the fiction/reality precipice). It’s gloriously creepy and has a lovely old-world feel, like a piece of Victorian gothic. Esther - either as character or narrator - gets a job at a creepy Parisian hotel, where she has an affair with one of the other servant girls and falls for a ghost called Black Eyed Susan. That summary does not remotely do this story justice. The hotel, and its strange, often hostile denizens, are exquisitely portrayed in a few deft sentences - the Mademoiselle Coudeban, for example, who has a ‘scalpel of an eye’ and sits around sewing peculiar items the narrator characterises as ‘bags for octopuses’ or the excellently named Madame Ghoule who needs no further elucidation. Ne Que V'on Desir is a werewolf story that never once mentions the word werewolf ... uhh, guess I just spoiled it but, no, it's totally obvious. Judas has a wonderful voice, strange and broken, and melancholy and beautiful. I kind of have something of a crush on the poor bastard. Also the commingling of violence and eroticism, alienation, homosexuality and lycanthropy works insanely well. Death and the Maiden is stunningly creepy exploration of art, eroticism, gender and identity. And Disturbed By Her Song is completely heartbreaking.
I could babble on about this book for ages - I really really did love it. Please, Tanith Lee, keep channelling your imaginary gay people if this what results.
September 13, 2010
I was given Disturbed by Her Song as a review copy from Lethe Press, and I've got to say, this was one of the most unusual things I've read in a while. It's a collection of short stories written by Tanith Lee, but under the conceit that two of her characters are actually writing the stories. "Esther Garber" and "Judas Garbah" are half-siblings, and each of them is gay. The stories Lee writes for them explore same-sex relationships, and she does a very impressive job giving each of the siblings a distinctive writing voice. I didn't think I'd like the conceit of her "channeling" these characters; thankfully, though, that's gotten quickly out of the way in the intro, and the stories themselves stand strongly on their own.
Judas' stories I liked less than Esther's, but I think this was mostly a question of them being generally darker of tone and not terribly happy. It is however a testament to Lee's skill that I picked up the strong impression that Judas' stories are perhaps intended to be partly autobiographical. Of the lot, I found "The Crow" most intriguing, in no small part because it's got enough substance to it that it would reward a second reading to pick up on what I missed.
Esther's stories on the other hand quite impressed me. It is here that Lee's language frequently shone. While I couldn't quite call this collection erotica, it is nonetheless very sensual, and Lee's command of her words goes a long way towards making this work. There are particularly lyrical passages in "The X's Are Not Kisses" and "Death and the Maiden", for example.
But hands down, the title piece of this work is the best. "Disturbed By Her Song" is a deeply bittersweet story, tying beautifully in with the ancient tale referenced by its title. Like Judas' stories in the collection, it is not particularly happy. But it's definitely one that stays with you.
All that keeps me from giving this five stars is how Judas' stories didn't captivate me as much as Esther's. That said: a very, very strong four stars.
Judas' stories I liked less than Esther's, but I think this was mostly a question of them being generally darker of tone and not terribly happy. It is however a testament to Lee's skill that I picked up the strong impression that Judas' stories are perhaps intended to be partly autobiographical. Of the lot, I found "The Crow" most intriguing, in no small part because it's got enough substance to it that it would reward a second reading to pick up on what I missed.
Esther's stories on the other hand quite impressed me. It is here that Lee's language frequently shone. While I couldn't quite call this collection erotica, it is nonetheless very sensual, and Lee's command of her words goes a long way towards making this work. There are particularly lyrical passages in "The X's Are Not Kisses" and "Death and the Maiden", for example.
But hands down, the title piece of this work is the best. "Disturbed By Her Song" is a deeply bittersweet story, tying beautifully in with the ancient tale referenced by its title. Like Judas' stories in the collection, it is not particularly happy. But it's definitely one that stays with you.
All that keeps me from giving this five stars is how Judas' stories didn't captivate me as much as Esther's. That said: a very, very strong four stars.
July 27, 2020
A bit uneven, but enjoyable. More notes here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
April 6, 2011
Reminded me of Angela Carter's fairytales. I'm interested in reading more by Tanith Lee.
May 8, 2018
Death and the Maiden is so melodrama.
September 19, 2017
I have always been attracted to stories which have an Old World flavor—ivory cameo-miniatures with gorgeous language and intriguing characters moving at a languid pace—so Tanith Lee’s collection, Disturbed By Her Song, is just what I’ve been looking for to while away these long summer nights. Lee writes here as both Esther and Judas Garber, alter egos she spends too much time fleshing out in a prologue to the stories. The meat of the book is the stories, and the meals that follow this passionless appetizer are sumptuous, indeed. The first course, “Youth and Age,” is comprised of two stories by Esther Garber, “Black Eyed Susan” and “The Kiss” in which young girls interact with older women. “Black Eyed Susan” is an interesting ghost-story-without-a-ghost featuring Sylvie, a hotel chambermaid and her investigation into the origin of a mysterious black-eyed figure she encounters on the stairs. “The Kiss” is a tight vignette about an autograph seeker with an unusual request of an aging stage actress. None of these stories is plot-driven. They are all about characters who unfold like rare orchids, the movement of each petal a revelation until their secrets are shyly revealed. Buy a copy, bend down and inhale their heady aroma. It will make you dizzy, beguile you and stay in your head for days. Full review athttps://outinprintblog.wordpress.com/...
February 11, 2018
This is my first Tanith Lee. It’s probably not the best one to start with because of its main conceit. The book is a meta-fantasy collection of short stories. Lee channels fictional characters who convey the stories to her. The characters are Esther Garber and Judas Garbah, half-siblings who are both gay. Esther’s stories are fictional, Judas’ are autobiographical. Lee expertly writes in two different styles, although other reviewers have noted that they hear Lee’s voice through both. While I really enjoyed the book, giving it a high rating, I think I would have liked to have first been introduced to Lee through one of her novels. The book was nominated for Lambda Literary Award for LGBT SF/Fantasy/Horror, which is how I discovered it in the first place.
Come visit my blog for the full review…
https://itstartedwiththehugos.blogspo...
Come visit my blog for the full review…
https://itstartedwiththehugos.blogspo...
January 31, 2015
One of those great books that make me happy and make me feel as if i'm in love or smth. It disturbed me in a good way in all the ways - sensually, intellectually and, of course, physically). Terrific mix of erotica and magic realism ♡. Goes to the shelve of my favorite authors, like Angela Carter and Kelly Link.
P.S. I really liked the audiobook narrated by Jullian Kline. She has such a cute a little bit hoarse sexy voice *drooling* *^^*
P.S. I really liked the audiobook narrated by Jullian Kline. She has such a cute a little bit hoarse sexy voice *drooling* *^^*
September 22, 2011
Lee usually writes high fantasy with cranky heroines (in my experience so far). This small press offering of short stories finds her channeling two characters who write queer erotica with a touch of magical realism. The stories are emotionally intense. Esther writes a great love story while Judas tends to write memoir-like shorter pieces. They are both a little cranky too.
February 23, 2012
A great collection of stories held together by the three authors- Tanith Lee and the characters she channels, Esther Garber and Judas Garbah. The story I liked best was the longest one, Death and the Maiden, but they were all really high quality and thought-provoking. I will definitely be reading again soon.
September 4, 2015
3.5 Though it appeared to be a perfect complement to absinthe at an outdoor café, the tone is similar to many other short stories by Tanith Lee i.e one's senses are best deranged in other ways. The title story is one that didn't engage me, although the rest of the book was enjoyable, Jonas perhaps more to my taste than Esther.
December 28, 2015
strange, oddly timeless but wonderful collection of stories ranging from subtly weird through full-blown gothic to queer (mostly lesbian) erotica. Lee is a criminally undervalued writer of interesting and unusual dark fantasy in my opinion. Only negative point is the Orientalist/imperialist themes used to flesh out some of the stories but still definitely worth reading.
June 5, 2015
Une série de nouvelles "racontées" par des personnages gays, où l'érotisme et l'étrange imprègnent un style précis et sensuel. Un petit recueil pour découvrir l'oeuvre de Tanith Lee, qui promène le lecteur de l'Egypte du début du XXème au Londres contemporain, en passant par la France.
December 31, 2015
So good, so my cup of tea. Beautiful, surreal little stories with gothic touches pleasing to this fan of Dinesen and Hoffman. My only turn-off was that the metaphor in one story fell out as feeling transphobic to me. If only Lee could have ended that one differently...
March 31, 2016
Like any book of short story's some are good and some are not so good. this is no exception. There are one or two story's that are forgettable but most are outstanding, if you like Lees style that is. All story's are about Love and/or sexuality in one form or another. definitely worth a read.
March 4, 2012
Hmmmm. Interesting. Very weird and well-written. But a little more than vaguely Orientalist - Tanith Lee, who knew?
April 30, 2020
Lee channels Esther and Judas Garber, siblings and writers, to create this collection of short stories. While the Garbers, along with their sister Anne, are Lee's own creations, she claims they are as real to her as anything, and so this collection reads as a mix of fiction and memoir. Each story, despite the finale, is written from a first person perspective by either Esther or Judas and recounts an event from his/her life. Typically this event is of the romantic or sexual variety; although it should be noted that this is not erotica. The sex bows down before the story, is a tool for the story, not the reason for its existence.
There are nine stories in this 200+ page collection ranging from tales with chapters to one-page portraits. Esther's stories are Black Eyed Susan, The Kiss, The X's are not Kisses, Death and the Maiden, and Disturbed by Her Song. Judas's stories are Ne Que V'on Desir, Alexandrians, Fleurs en Hiver, and The Crow. Despite the fact that all stories were indeed written by the same person, Esther and Judas have very different voices, the distinction obvious. Of course, the difference is also noted in that Esther is a lesbian and Judas a gay man.
The entire collection is book-ended by the tale of the Princess and the Nightingale, the story which also gave the collection its title:
Once upon a time there was a princess, outside whose high bedroom window a nightingale sang every night from a pomegranate tree. While the nightingale sang, the princess slept deeply and well, dreaming of wondrous and beautiful things. However there came a night when the nightingale, for reasons of her own, did not sing but flew far away.
In the morning, the princess summoned a gardener and told him to cut down the pomegranate tree. The man protested; the tree was a fine one, young, healthy and fruitful. But the princess would not relent. For as she said, all that one previous night a nightingale had perched in the branches, and the princess's sleep had been very much disturbed by her song.
This passage begins the book, but the significance is not revealed until the final tale, and it's overall import is moving and melancholy, ending the book on the same sort of poetic and dreamy tone which has permeated all of the tales. These are not happy every after stories, nor are they darkly depressing tales; they are snippets of life which reflect on those deeply felt, somber but not lacking hope, type moments.
I think what most intrigued me by this collection is the creation of a universe in which these two siblings - and their never-there-but-always-present sister Anne - inhabit. Each story is separate from the others with minimal character duplication outside of the siblings, and yet they all come together to paint a portrait of this unique universe, a world of dreams, surreal and poignant. Alternating gothic, surreal, realistic, erotic, sad, hopeful, and deep, the collection is one I would definitely recommend.
With all this in mind, you may be wondering why I haven't marked it as a Buy, instead choosing to select Borrow for my rating. Simply put, short stories just do not capture me as much as full length novels: certain stories would be a Buy, others would be an Accept, so I'm splitting the difference.
There are nine stories in this 200+ page collection ranging from tales with chapters to one-page portraits. Esther's stories are Black Eyed Susan, The Kiss, The X's are not Kisses, Death and the Maiden, and Disturbed by Her Song. Judas's stories are Ne Que V'on Desir, Alexandrians, Fleurs en Hiver, and The Crow. Despite the fact that all stories were indeed written by the same person, Esther and Judas have very different voices, the distinction obvious. Of course, the difference is also noted in that Esther is a lesbian and Judas a gay man.
The entire collection is book-ended by the tale of the Princess and the Nightingale, the story which also gave the collection its title:
Once upon a time there was a princess, outside whose high bedroom window a nightingale sang every night from a pomegranate tree. While the nightingale sang, the princess slept deeply and well, dreaming of wondrous and beautiful things. However there came a night when the nightingale, for reasons of her own, did not sing but flew far away.
In the morning, the princess summoned a gardener and told him to cut down the pomegranate tree. The man protested; the tree was a fine one, young, healthy and fruitful. But the princess would not relent. For as she said, all that one previous night a nightingale had perched in the branches, and the princess's sleep had been very much disturbed by her song.
This passage begins the book, but the significance is not revealed until the final tale, and it's overall import is moving and melancholy, ending the book on the same sort of poetic and dreamy tone which has permeated all of the tales. These are not happy every after stories, nor are they darkly depressing tales; they are snippets of life which reflect on those deeply felt, somber but not lacking hope, type moments.
I think what most intrigued me by this collection is the creation of a universe in which these two siblings - and their never-there-but-always-present sister Anne - inhabit. Each story is separate from the others with minimal character duplication outside of the siblings, and yet they all come together to paint a portrait of this unique universe, a world of dreams, surreal and poignant. Alternating gothic, surreal, realistic, erotic, sad, hopeful, and deep, the collection is one I would definitely recommend.
With all this in mind, you may be wondering why I haven't marked it as a Buy, instead choosing to select Borrow for my rating. Simply put, short stories just do not capture me as much as full length novels: certain stories would be a Buy, others would be an Accept, so I'm splitting the difference.
December 29, 2024
I don’t quite know what to list as my highlight, because I left both of the ones I most enjoyed reading frustrated, but I’ll go ahead and say Death and the Maiden qualifies, with Black Eyed Susan as the runner up.
Lowlights were all the Judas entries. Actively struggled to keep my attention on the page in even the shortest of them.
Lowlights were all the Judas entries. Actively struggled to keep my attention on the page in even the shortest of them.
November 18, 2016
I read this short story collection because I was intrigued by the fact that the stories are written by one writter (Lee) as if they had been written by two different writers (Judas and Esther) who sometimes also appear as characters. I have to say that this effect was well accomplished as I enjoyed Judas stories (in particular the descriptions and mood setting) but found Esther's stories really grated on my nerves (I must add here that for other reviewers the effect was opposite).
Nevertheless I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed on this book, but this may have been because I wasn't expecting gay/leasbian romance to be such a central focus to it. I would like to clarify that I am not uncomfortable with the idea of gay/lesbian romance, it is simply that all the gay and lesbian people I know are just as complex and layered as the straight people I know (I shouldn't need to say this), and therefore I was a bit bothered by how it was depicted in this stories (insta-love! enslaving attraction! will do/tolerate anything for the dominant partner!There is a dominant partner!). I will add that I am sure it was done in good faith, and that there are many, many straight romances with the same components, but they are just not my cup of tea.
Great description of the train in the snow in one of Judas stories.
Nevertheless I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed on this book, but this may have been because I wasn't expecting gay/leasbian romance to be such a central focus to it. I would like to clarify that I am not uncomfortable with the idea of gay/lesbian romance, it is simply that all the gay and lesbian people I know are just as complex and layered as the straight people I know (I shouldn't need to say this), and therefore I was a bit bothered by how it was depicted in this stories (insta-love! enslaving attraction! will do/tolerate anything for the dominant partner!There is a dominant partner!). I will add that I am sure it was done in good faith, and that there are many, many straight romances with the same components, but they are just not my cup of tea.
Great description of the train in the snow in one of Judas stories.
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