What do you think?
Rate this book
Theme for Diverse Instruments
Jane Rule’s first collection of short stories, some of which were first published in The Ladder, the first nationally distributed lesbian publication in the United States. Jane Rule is also the author of Desert of the Heart and Memory Board.
In the sensual and tender “Middle Children,” two closeted young lesbians radiate the joy of their love into the tumultuous lives around them.
In “A Television Drama,” Carolee Mitchell witnesses the capture of a wounded fugitive?and the blurring of the boundaries between reality and unreality.
Young Maly learns to contend with the games of her brother and his new friend by devising a game of her own in “My Father's House.”
In “My Country Wrong,” an American lesbian returns at Christmas time to Vietnam-era San Francisco.
In the humorous story “House,” an uninhibited, nonconformist family tries conventionality on for size.
Ruth hires Anna?but the women’s relationship encompasses far more complicated issues than Anna being Ruth’s “Housekeeper.”
In the unforgettable “In the Basement of the House”, a young woman grapples with the forces that entwine her life with a conventional-appearing husband and wife.
And in a story that ranks with the greatest ever written, lesbian Alice occupies “The Attic of the House.”
This outstanding collection, from one of the most gifted writers of our generation, deserves a permanent place on your bookshelf.
Review adapted from lesbianfunworld.com.
In the sensual and tender “Middle Children,” two closeted young lesbians radiate the joy of their love into the tumultuous lives around them.
In “A Television Drama,” Carolee Mitchell witnesses the capture of a wounded fugitive?and the blurring of the boundaries between reality and unreality.
Young Maly learns to contend with the games of her brother and his new friend by devising a game of her own in “My Father's House.”
In “My Country Wrong,” an American lesbian returns at Christmas time to Vietnam-era San Francisco.
In the humorous story “House,” an uninhibited, nonconformist family tries conventionality on for size.
Ruth hires Anna?but the women’s relationship encompasses far more complicated issues than Anna being Ruth’s “Housekeeper.”
In the unforgettable “In the Basement of the House”, a young woman grapples with the forces that entwine her life with a conventional-appearing husband and wife.
And in a story that ranks with the greatest ever written, lesbian Alice occupies “The Attic of the House.”
This outstanding collection, from one of the most gifted writers of our generation, deserves a permanent place on your bookshelf.
Review adapted from lesbianfunworld.com.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
1 person is currently reading
35 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 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 20, 2021
I picked up this book for the story "If There Is No Gate," which Alberto Manguel includes in his fine collection The Oxford Book of Canadian Ghost Stories. At first blush it reads as a journey towards coming out of the closet, however I can definitely see how it can also be interpreted as a ghost story. Since Mr. Manguel is my anthologist idol, I shall defer to his wisdom and expertise!
January 20, 2025
Short stories - weird, disjointed, black
May 31, 2008
forgetable
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews