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Hello and welcome! My name is Emma (I write fantasy under the name E. M. Epps). This blog features my Two-Paragraph Book Reviews. One paragraph from me. One from the book. Here's why I keep it short.

You are here: Home > Review: “Passing Strange” by Ellen Klages

Review: “Passing Strange” by Ellen Klages

Image Emma 11 April 2017

Thumbs up for Passing Strange by Ellen Klages. Fantasy.

I’m not sure why the cover says “inspired by the pulps, film noir, and screwball comedy,” because this novella bears no resemblance to any of those things, except that it is set in San Francisco and one of the main characters paints covers for the pulps. What it actually is is a sweet love story with just a teeny bit of fantasy. What makes it excellent is the evocation of both the city and the world of the lesbian underground in 1940—which the author somehow, amazingly, makes feel deeply nostalgic despite not glossing over the problems the characters face. The downside is that the dialogue is terrible: not cringingly bad, but no one ever talked like any of these people. This would have bothered me more had it been a full-length novel, but I rather expect a telegraphic style in a work of this length. Recommended if you like stories with a nice San Francisco atmosphere or you would like a dip into gay history.

“Some day, when I’m awfully low, and the world is—” Her voice was smooth and deep and brave even as hers hands shook. She had sung in the shower, and to countless audiences of strangers, but always with a costume or Spike’s cocky, hip-shot artifice. This was different.


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Cold Sandwiches and All: A Romantic Comedy

Mrs. Fromish's Guests

The Interpreter's Tale: A Word with Too Many Meanings

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To Hell and Back Again

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E. M. Epps is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. (That's what they tell me I have to say. This is not a lucrative venture, but if you do decide you want to read one of the books I link to, and your neighborhood bookstore hasn't got it, then it would be simply lovely if you were to go to Amazon via one of my links. That may get me 10c or so and then if a bunch of you do that maybe I would get myself a cup of tea or something like that. If you're feeling nice.)

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