Sun Bubble

by Jane Gaskell

Sun bubble contains Julia and Joey,incompatible lovers,yet the relationship is warm and strong.

Genres: Fantasy

240 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1990

About the author

Gaskell was born Jane Gaskell Denvil on 7 July 1941, in Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, England (previously in the county of Lancashire). She is the great grandniece of the Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. Her first novel, Strange Evil, was written when she was 14-years-old (published two years later, in 1957). In 1963 Gaskell married truck driver Gerald Lynch; and in 1965 their daughter, Lucy Emma, was born. (Their marriage ended in divorce in 1968.)

In 1970 she received the Somerset Maugham Award for her novel A Sweet, Sweet Summer.

China Miéville lists Strange Evil as one of the top 10 examples of weird fiction.

Wikipedia®

Reviews

[Garick Cooke]

This was the eighth novel by Gaskell that I've read. Sadly, it was also her last. (I can't discover a death date for her, so it is possible she could produce another, although she would now be in her eighties; we can always hope.) Published in 1990, after a hiatus of 13 years, in which she published only one piece of short fiction ("Caves", 1984, which seems to be the opening chapter of an unpublished, pornographic fantasy novel rather than a short story), Sun Bubble is the tale of a forty-something journalist's love affair with a much younger alcoholic ne'er-do-well, with predictable results. Her life is complicated, however, so there are various sub-plots, including: 1) Her struggle with her teenaged runaway, druggie daughter; 2) Her struggle with unscrupulous builders who eventually ruin her home; 3) Her struggle to fend off a wealthy suitor who apparently could solve all her problems... And so on. All of which is handled brilliantly, in Gaskell's inimitable style. There are no speculative elements, except in the final chapter, wherein the cynical journalist attempts to contact her dead lover via paranormal means. If you've enjoyed other of Gaskell's realistic novels, you would probably like this one, as well.

PS--Print editions of this novel may be hard to find, but it can be read in its entirety on Archive.org.