Book Review

Passing Strange by Ellen Klages

Passing Strange is an odd but lovely novella that involves fantasy, history, art, and romance in 1940s San Francisco. It’s not very tightly constructed, but it does have a beautiful romance and a lovely, dreamlike tone.

The story begins in the present day as Helen, an American woman of Japanese descent, sells an original art work by an artist known as Haskel. Haskel painted covers for pulp fiction novels and magazines, and over time the work had become appreciated by art collectors.

The story then backtracks to the 1940s. A group of women who call themselves the Circle have regular social get togethers. They are all lesbian or bisexual. Haskel, whose full name turns out to be Loretta Haskel, meets a new member of the Circle named Emily. Haskel and Emily fall in love very quickly, but their relationship meets obstacles that seem insurmountable. Haskel and Emily must turn to the help of the Circle and to magic passed down from woman to woman in order to find a way to preserve their relationship.

I thought that this book was constructed in an odd way, although the construction makes more sense by the time the ending is revealed. Helen starts off as the main character and then almost completely disappears. Much is made of her friend Franny’s magic, but it could have been left out of the story altogether and nothing would have changed. The unnecessary details are distracting and made the structure seem disjointed.

That said, there was plenty about this story that I did like. The inclusion of Helen added inclusivity which fit well in a story set in the extremely multicultural city of San Francisco. Scenes set in a piano bar for queer women allowed for a range of expressions of sexuality and gender. Emily and Haskel have an easy, happy chemistry that made me believe in them as a couple despite their very rapid courtship. The focus on women supporting other women was delightful, although I would have liked more chemistry (friendly, not romantic) between the other members of the Circle. I also enjoyed the details of Haskel’s artistic process, including why she works with pastels (a medium that allows for a clever twist at the end) and how she makes fixative (it involves fish guts). Finally, I adored the description of San Francisco, from Mona’s Bar to the Golden Gate International Exposition.

I don’t want to spoil the conclusion, which makes this review challenging to write since the conclusion was not only my favorite part but the moment when most of the disjointed pieces of narrative finally came together. It’s a clever ending and a thematically appropriate ending in that it involves cooperation between women and justice for all. Whether or not it’s a happy ending will depend on the point of view of the reader.

In 2014 I was able to attend the Nebula Awards. Ellen Klages, the author of Passing Strange, was the toastmaster. Due to technical difficulties she suddenly found herself having to entertain a crowd for about twenty minutes, which she did by telling the Tale of the Scary Ham. You can read this story at Tor.com, complete with truly terrifying photos of the scary ham, but nothing can compare to the delight of hearing the story of The Scary Ham in person.

Passing Strange is not as funny as The Tale of the Scary Ham (to be fair, very few things are, not to mention the fact that The Scary Ham is a family anecdote and Passing Strange is a romantic historical fantasy). However, they both share a sense of people who are both fiercely individualistic and deeply committed members of a community. They also share a loose sense of storytelling and a bittersweet, somewhat inconclusive ending.

When Ellen Klages tells a story, it sticks in the mind. Three years later I can’t hear the word “ham” without thinking “It’s a Smithfield ham” and giggling. While I was reading Passing Strange, I thought it was fluffy but in the week since I read it I haven’t stopped thinking about it. The novella is like a lovely dream, and it leaves the reader with a final image of two women seizing their own version of happiness with the help of other women. It’s a lovely ode to the power of friendship, art, and love.

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Passing Strange by Ellen Klages

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  1. KateB says:

    I agree that the structure was strange and I would have loved more from surrounding characters, especially since the relationship between Haskell and Emily was almost secondary to the flow of the story, but oh my gosh, I loved the historical setting!

    When I finished the book, I looked up pictures from Fair and Mona’s and it’s totally worth Googling. Also, there used to be lesbian bar in my town (oh, the slow death of lesbian bars!) named Mona’s and I have to wonder if it was in homage.

  2. BRNZ says:

    I wanted to know what happened NEXT!!!! Like you, this story has stuck with me and I will certainly re read it many times to fully appreciate it. Its one of those rare gems.

  3. Georgie says:

    Thank you for the Scary Ham link. Not sure I’ll read the book, but the link was brill!

  4. Cathy says:

    This one is sitting in my TBR pile (well, on my Kindle). Looking forward to it for sure!

  5. Damn, that cover is gorgeous. I want to buy this book but I’m leery because I’m tired of f/f “romances” that have tragic endings, and this quote has me nervous: “Whether or not it’s a happy ending will depend on the point of view of the reader.”

    Carrie S, my point of view is that I want the main couple to survive and have a HEA together, which is what I want from all of my romances. If I read this, will I be disappointed?

  6. Jackie Wilkins says:

    I loved this book! I found a slide show of historical photos of Mona’s, Forbidden City,
    Treasure Island and more, on YouTube. Type in “passing strange klages.”

  7. keri says:

    Rachel, I finished reading it on Sunday and I think the HEA is going to be very much up to the reader. Technically, it’s an HEA, I guess? but it’s kind of off screen/fade to black and didn’t have the HEA feelings I wanted from it.

    I think Carrie’s review covers a lot of my opinions, but I also thought there was a LOT of strange infodumping about the queer women scene in San Francisco. Like, why is character A telling character B about the laws and social customs when B has lived and participated in it for years?? But despite the clunkiness of this (and what Carrie described with character purpose), and despite the not-quite-an-HEA, I did enjoy it a lot. It’s one of the better f/f novellas I’ve read. But maybe more for the scenery and supportive women and so on rather than the romance itself.

    (The story partly takes place in the San Francisco world fair, which was vividly and beautifully described. I wish I could have gone!)

  8. Thanks, Keri. It sounds like neither of the characters gets killed off for no apparent reason, so I think I’ll go ahead and take the risk.

  9. Caitlin says:

    I really really loved this book and also really, really felt like it needed…more. More pages, I guess. More space to bring out all these incredibly lovely characters, MORE time to bring us more of these women supporting and loving each other.

  10. Caitlin says:

    Also. Oh my god, OH MY GOD, thank you for The Scary Ham! I haven’t laughed that hard since, like, before the election.

  11. Vasha says:

    Helen is made of awesome– I was hooked from the chapter of her negotiating with the book dealer. And there’s more to be said; how did she go from a young lawyer who no one outside the lesbian community would hire, to being a judge? I hope Klages writes that story.

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