What do you think?
Rate this book
Contract with the world
In Contract with the World , the setting is Vancouver, and the time is the mid-1970s. Told from six different characters’ points of view, the novel describes the intersection between artistic motivation, personal fulfillment, and sexual politics. The Insomniac Library is proud to reissue Jane Rule’s fifth novel more than twenty years after its initial appearance in 1980.
339 pages, Paperback
First published September 28, 1980
8 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Jane Rule
33 books88 followersJane Vance Rule was a Canadian writer of lesbian-themed novels and non-fiction. American by birth and Canadian by choice, Rule's pioneering work as a writer and activist reached across borders.
Rule was born on March 28, 1931, in Plainfield, New Jersey, and raised in the Midwest and California. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Mills College in 1952. In 1954 she joined the faculty of the Concord Academy, a private school in Massachusetts. There Rule met Helen Sonthoff, a fellow faculty member who became her life partner. They settled in Vancouver in 1956. Eventually they both held positions at the University of British Columbia until 1976 when they moved to Galiano Island. Sonthoff died in 2000, at 83. Rule died at the age of 76 on November 28, 2007 at her home on Galiano Island due to complications from liver cancer, refusing any treatment that would take her from the island.
A major literary figure in Canada, she wrote seven novels as well as short stories and nonfiction. But it was for Desert of the Heart that she remained best known. The novel published in 1964, is about a professor of English literature who meets and falls in love with a casino worker in Reno. It was made into a movie by Donna Deitch called Desert Hearts in 1985, which quickly became a lesbian classic.
Rule, who became a Canadian citizen in the 1960s, was awarded the Order of British Columbia in 1998 and the Order of Canada in 2007. In 1994, Rule was the subject of a Genie-awarding winning documentary, Fiction and Other Truths; a film about Jane Rule, directed by Lynne Fernie and Aerlyn Weissman, produced by Rina Fraticelli. She received the Canadian Authors Association best novel and best short story awards, the American Gay Academic Literature Award, the U.S. Fund for Human Dignity Award of Merit, the CNIB's Talking Book of the Year Award and an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of British Columbia. In January of 2007, Rule was awarded the Alice B. Toklas Medal “for her long and storied career as a lesbian novelist.”
Proud Life - Jane Rule: 1931 - 2007 by Marilyn Schuster
Jane Rule 1996 - George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award
Rule was born on March 28, 1931, in Plainfield, New Jersey, and raised in the Midwest and California. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Mills College in 1952. In 1954 she joined the faculty of the Concord Academy, a private school in Massachusetts. There Rule met Helen Sonthoff, a fellow faculty member who became her life partner. They settled in Vancouver in 1956. Eventually they both held positions at the University of British Columbia until 1976 when they moved to Galiano Island. Sonthoff died in 2000, at 83. Rule died at the age of 76 on November 28, 2007 at her home on Galiano Island due to complications from liver cancer, refusing any treatment that would take her from the island.
A major literary figure in Canada, she wrote seven novels as well as short stories and nonfiction. But it was for Desert of the Heart that she remained best known. The novel published in 1964, is about a professor of English literature who meets and falls in love with a casino worker in Reno. It was made into a movie by Donna Deitch called Desert Hearts in 1985, which quickly became a lesbian classic.
Rule, who became a Canadian citizen in the 1960s, was awarded the Order of British Columbia in 1998 and the Order of Canada in 2007. In 1994, Rule was the subject of a Genie-awarding winning documentary, Fiction and Other Truths; a film about Jane Rule, directed by Lynne Fernie and Aerlyn Weissman, produced by Rina Fraticelli. She received the Canadian Authors Association best novel and best short story awards, the American Gay Academic Literature Award, the U.S. Fund for Human Dignity Award of Merit, the CNIB's Talking Book of the Year Award and an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of British Columbia. In January of 2007, Rule was awarded the Alice B. Toklas Medal “for her long and storied career as a lesbian novelist.”
Proud Life - Jane Rule: 1931 - 2007 by Marilyn Schuster
Jane Rule 1996 - George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 2, 2011
This novel almost reads like a series of connected short stories. Each chapter focuses mainly on one character, but we also see all the other characters in how they interact alltogether.
There is gentle Joseph, who despite his own fragile mental health helps to hold the others togehter. Alma, the queen, who is so entertaining one can't quite hate her the way one wants to. Allen and Mike, both tougher than nails with very real weaknesses, and Carlotta and Roxanne who seem to be almost too far removed from life itself.
The story is told with a wry sense of humour, and it's hard to put the book down, since no one ever has a boring moment, including the reader. Told in an era when 2nd wave feminism was at it's height and gay and lesbian politics were still just emerging, it is interesting to read the book some 26 years later and find that much of its politics still apply!
There is gentle Joseph, who despite his own fragile mental health helps to hold the others togehter. Alma, the queen, who is so entertaining one can't quite hate her the way one wants to. Allen and Mike, both tougher than nails with very real weaknesses, and Carlotta and Roxanne who seem to be almost too far removed from life itself.
The story is told with a wry sense of humour, and it's hard to put the book down, since no one ever has a boring moment, including the reader. Told in an era when 2nd wave feminism was at it's height and gay and lesbian politics were still just emerging, it is interesting to read the book some 26 years later and find that much of its politics still apply!
November 17, 2023
Jane Rule's been on my to-read list for several years now, but damn. I did not expect this book to be this good.
The characters are quite a range of people. None of them quite understand each other either, as you find out when you read the section from each person's POV--unless perhaps they don't understand themselves. Everyone but Alma sees Alma as self-centered, no one but Joseph understands how he could have a mental illness or how he feels about his family, and each character will have their own peculiar bias for their own particular friends or significant others (Alma and Roxanne see each other very differently from how anyone else sees them; Allen and Joseph have sympathy and comfort with each other while other characters largely see them as more ordinary or responsible; Mike is a whole other story). And each character has significant flaws, some of which make it very uncomfortable to read from their point of view. Each section of this book moved me in its own way, making me intrigued, anxious, critical--not ever particularly happy, bc it's not a very happy book! The closest thing the book has to happiness is maybe Joseph and Ann's family, or maybe Roxanne and Alma's--but even then, family does not insulate any of these people from tragedy or conflict as time goes by and the people around them make their own choices.
General thoughts on the characters:
Joseph--What a babe. I love narrators who are involved in other ppl's stories while feeling estranged from their own lives. Vaguely reminds me of Nick Carraway. No one else really gets him in their POV sections but that's kind of the point.
Mike--When I say this book made me anxious, Mike's section hit me the hardest. Restless, hateful, self-hating and hating of others, despairing and aggressive, he is NOT a pleasant POV! But it's interesting seeing his relationships with Alma, Joseph, and Carlotta, and seeing him eventually move past his rage (though it takes him A While).
Alma--I can't say I'm Joseph siding with Mike over Alma, bc Mike is MIKE, but Alma's pretty unlikeable too. Yet I feel it's kind of understandable that Roxanne is into her. Sometimes you see a self-centered woman with kids and you're like "yes. A Goddess."
Roxanne--Much more interesting from her own POV than anyone else's. Love the way she is obsessed with sounds, also love her attitude towards sex, her awareness of the fragility of life and safety, her complex attitude towards Alma. The way she loved living with her yet could easily tell that Alma did not consider the house Roxanne's house or the family Roxanne's family, even when the boys did. A bit sad, but you know she'll be able to keep on going, bc she has the strength to face adversity.
Allen--His relationship with Pierre, I wish we got to see more of. The way he finally awakens his rage is like, on the one hand, cool, you woke up some passion. On the other hand, why THAT way?? Anyway I love his relationship with Joseph as well, they're probably the simplest friendship in the book.
Carlotta--Also self centered but in a more boring way than Alma. I have no strong feelings about her but when But also. Once again, if I was Alma or Roxanne I can also see myself being attracted to her bc "self-centered artist woman who's kind of self destructive and pretentious but today she's paying attention to Me" would be my type too, RIP.
Overall a really hard-hitting book. Would recommend, but just be prepared.
The characters are quite a range of people. None of them quite understand each other either, as you find out when you read the section from each person's POV--unless perhaps they don't understand themselves. Everyone but Alma sees Alma as self-centered, no one but Joseph understands how he could have a mental illness or how he feels about his family, and each character will have their own peculiar bias for their own particular friends or significant others (Alma and Roxanne see each other very differently from how anyone else sees them; Allen and Joseph have sympathy and comfort with each other while other characters largely see them as more ordinary or responsible; Mike is a whole other story). And each character has significant flaws, some of which make it very uncomfortable to read from their point of view. Each section of this book moved me in its own way, making me intrigued, anxious, critical--not ever particularly happy, bc it's not a very happy book! The closest thing the book has to happiness is maybe Joseph and Ann's family, or maybe Roxanne and Alma's--but even then, family does not insulate any of these people from tragedy or conflict as time goes by and the people around them make their own choices.
General thoughts on the characters:
Joseph--What a babe. I love narrators who are involved in other ppl's stories while feeling estranged from their own lives. Vaguely reminds me of Nick Carraway. No one else really gets him in their POV sections but that's kind of the point.
Mike--When I say this book made me anxious, Mike's section hit me the hardest. Restless, hateful, self-hating and hating of others, despairing and aggressive, he is NOT a pleasant POV! But it's interesting seeing his relationships with Alma, Joseph, and Carlotta, and seeing him eventually move past his rage (though it takes him A While).
Alma--I can't say I'm Joseph siding with Mike over Alma, bc Mike is MIKE, but Alma's pretty unlikeable too. Yet I feel it's kind of understandable that Roxanne is into her. Sometimes you see a self-centered woman with kids and you're like "yes. A Goddess."
Roxanne--Much more interesting from her own POV than anyone else's. Love the way she is obsessed with sounds, also love her attitude towards sex, her awareness of the fragility of life and safety, her complex attitude towards Alma. The way she loved living with her yet could easily tell that Alma did not consider the house Roxanne's house or the family Roxanne's family, even when the boys did. A bit sad, but you know she'll be able to keep on going, bc she has the strength to face adversity.
Allen--His relationship with Pierre, I wish we got to see more of. The way he finally awakens his rage is like, on the one hand, cool, you woke up some passion. On the other hand, why THAT way?? Anyway I love his relationship with Joseph as well, they're probably the simplest friendship in the book.
Carlotta--Also self centered but in a more boring way than Alma. I have no strong feelings about her but when But also. Once again, if I was Alma or Roxanne I can also see myself being attracted to her bc "self-centered artist woman who's kind of self destructive and pretentious but today she's paying attention to Me" would be my type too, RIP.
Overall a really hard-hitting book. Would recommend, but just be prepared.
November 23, 2022
For the first 2/3, which I read fast and intensely, I felt caught up in the circle of artists who were trying, in various ways, To Art, but the last third was a slog and I found the intricacies of interpersonal drama (literally drama) and pain just quite tedious. Worth a go, thought
November 30, 2021
Interesting and with contemporary issues...
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews