Salt Water and Other Stories

by Barbara Sjoholm, Barbara Wilson

Salt Water and Other Stories a brilliant collection of nine clearly rendered, sensuous tales of women coming together and drifting apart. Each story is marked by fully realized characterizations, accessible and intellectual themes, and passionate writing. The title piece explores the relationship between an American professor and a Swedish-German painter where love may be delusion, romance, or obsession. In "Is This Enough For You," two women are torn between what may be profound love and the ties each has to an unsuspecting lover. In "Archaeology," the remains of a childhood home become the catalyst for the introspective examination of changing values. Barbara Wilson has become known for putting her heart on the page, and Salt Water and Other Stories is an example of this at its shining best.

Genres: LGBT, Fiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

I’m a writer of nonfiction, including memoirs (Blue Windows) and travel books (The Pirate Queen). As Barbara Sjoholm I have published essays and travel articles in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Slate, and American Scholar, as well as many other publications. My focus as a nonfiction writer has been on Scandinavia and the Indigenous Sami people of the Nordic countries (Black Fox, Palace of the Snow Queen). I also translate from Danish (By the Fire: Sami Folktales) and Norwegian (Clearing Out by Helene Uri).

As Barbara Wilson I have a long career as a mystery writer, with two series featuring lesbian sleuths, Pam Nilsen, a printer in Seattle, and the globe-trotting translator Cassandra Reilly. Gaudi Afternoon, with Cassandra, and set in Barcelona, was awarded a Lambda and a British Crime Writers Award and made into a film with Judy Davis and Marcia Gay Harden. After a bit of a hiatus, I've resumed writing mysteries with Cassandra Reilly. The latest is Not the Real Jupiter, with more to follow.

Reviews

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quite the lesbian vignette anthology....intelligent, witty, by turns sad and funny. Most certainly one of my favourite lesbian authors besides Leslea Newman.