L'Amber

by Tanith Lee

As she says of herself, Jay is a 'chancer'. But she finds she is out of her depth when she meets the beautiful artist, Jilaine Best. Jilaine has everything - looks, talent, and wealth - even so her life is imperfect. In adolescence she lost her mother in circumstances both mysterious and painfully unpleasant. Now, unable to conceive, Jilain's one wish is for a baby - even if another woman gives birth to it. Jay can't resist this opportunity - she tells Jilaine that she, Jay, is pregnant. And so the great lie begins. It seems easy enough - for there conveniently is the handsome young cab driver, only too willing to make love with her... But the spun web is already tangling. Can anything result from it but danger - and destruction?

Genres: Fiction, Queer

248 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2006

About the author

Tanith 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.

Reviews

[Andromeda M31 · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'Amber is the second of Tanith Lee's Coloring books that I have read. I have to admit these books intrigue me, it's nice to have Lee set the scene in a mostly modern London and not a fantastical other world. But L'Amber is a sad, bleak book. Jay is a typical Lee Female Main Character, selfish and inert and a pawn to the plot. Lee's women are female hermits. They lack friendship, a place in society, and enjoy themselves with sex, reading, or some artistic consumption.

There is no love story in this. Jay becomes obsessed by Jilaine, injecting herself into Jilaine's life in any way she can. Poor hapless Jud, the cab driver, stands is opposition to every other character in the story, and also against Jay's perception of men. Jud is a good guy, and is ruined by the women he falls prey to.

I do think the Coloring Books would be better served as short stories, or closer to novellas. Since Lee's death I've been returning to her ouvre and selecting out onces that I never bothered to read when she was alive. I plan to make my way through the rest of the Coloring Books.

[CHILTONM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only ever plead for my life, usually. Begging for forgiveness or love — that’s superfluous, isn’t it?

[Cristian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice read... but this isn't a particularly engaging story nor the best of Lee, it has all the elements of her fiction but they're somewhat badly mixed and the story doesn't flow that well, particularly because the characters aren't very engaging. The story does have good conflicts, but the interest dies off pretty soon somehow. Thankfully, Lee's writing is as top-notch as always, otherwise I think I wouldn't have finished it. I like Lee's Colouring Books series (I loved Greyglass), but this one has to be the weakest I've read so far.