Godmother Night

I read Godmother Night years ago, and it still creeps into my thoughts often. This book gave me chills and tears and those strange aha! moments when I felt like the story made me understand joy better. I love how this book worked on several levels simultaneously. The love relationships (lovers, parents, friends) are heartbreakingly real and believable. The overlaying mystical/fantastical elements are like beautiful poetry: true as any truth, but dwelling outside the mundane. The layers lay together like an unfolding rose, impossibly perfect, impossibly beautiful. After Godmother Night, other love stories seem shallow and banal. This is my favorite book of all time.

Rachel Pollack has left me completely smitten. Smitten with Laurie, with Jaqe, Kate, and Godmother Night. I didn't want the story to end. She had me nervous, laughing, crying, anticipating. It's a story about love. Love that any reader can understand, in a very universal form. It's a story of high imagination, and vivid details. I could not put this book down. I have since recommended this book to 2 people who have also completely fallen in love with it. This is by far, the #1 on my lists of favorites. It is so beautifully written, and I have never had a book pull me in the way this book has. Thank you Rachel for your gift, without this book, I'd be missing out on something so damn good.

Godmother Night is now one of my favourite books & it's the most moving book I have read since Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. It's seemingly influenced by both the myth of Orpheus & Cocteau's film, Orphee, which also features a well-dressed woman who is literally death & is attended by motorcyclists. Readers interested in feminist, "women's" or lesbian fiction, as well as those attracted by magickal realism, pagan related fantasy & fairy tales, or just about anyone who loves brilliantly crafted & eloquently written books will not be disappointed. The love affair between Laurie & Jaqe is highly believable & I could strongly relate to their relationship & to the problems that Laurie encounters with her academic studies, it was like seeing parts of my life & aspects of myself on the page. At points I found the book distressing which only added to its power, it takes on serious issues from "life" & beyond. Though I already had some of the comics she has written (The Geek & Doom Patrol), the Vertigo Tarot book, & The Body of the Goddess, (which are of an equal standard to Godmother Night!) this book propelled me onto a quest to read more of her work. Prepare for an intense love affair with this author's work! It's a must read that has left me urgently needing MORE Rachel Pollack books.

Rachel Pollack is amazing, her accurate account of two women falling in love and then losing each other, is amazing. It leaves out all of the feminist crap that most writter's seem to put into books these days if it just happens to be about ...... dykes. If you happen to pass this by, pick it up read it and I can almost promise satisfaction.

I think this is one of the most beautiful books written this year. Its fairy-tale-like quality is enchanting, but is also completely believable. The modern setting and fantastic events blend together seamlessly. I warmed to the characters, and found myself both crying and laughing out loud many times during my reading of the book. My only criticism is that I found the character of Laurie quite inconsistent in the last part of the book. Despite this, this goes on my favourite book list! If you like fairy tales, this is a must-read. Elizabeth Jones, Melbourne, Australia