Christabel-by-Karin-KallmakerChristabel by Karin Kallmaker is my favourite lesbian romance novel. It is epic and wonderfully told, spans time and speaks of true love.

The book is about two women who are separated from each other for many lifetimes by a truly evil man.

Dina Rowland is a financier and while meeting her new client, Leo Goranson she also meets his wife Christabel, a supermodel.

Dina is drawn to Christabel much to the delight of Leo. Leo’s purpose in life seems to be to torment others and he derives pleasure from dangling Christabel in front of Dina like bait.

In a parallel story (of the same women, set in puritan times) the characters battle to be together, however a new preacher has a different idea.

This story is magical, it tells of love that will span lifetimes and of hope even when there seems to be none left in the world.

Writing Style

There are a handful of authors who I sit back and read knowing that I will enjoy the language as much as the actual story. You see I have always had a fondness for brilliantly worded things. I love a clever play on words or a sentence that is written so well that you can almost feel the language. Kallmaker is one of these authors.

I can pick up any Kallmaker and I will get the thrill of a beautifully written novel. This one, for instance, starts like this:

It had finally stopped raining.

Mud slopped into Christabel’s boots, but her feet were already so cold and wet it made no difference. She could have saved herself from some of the muck if she had used the sidewalk, but boots scuffing on wood this late at night might make someone curious.

Pros

This is a great book.

Kallmaker is an absolutely brilliant author. Her use of language transports you into the story and within the blink of an eye she has you feeling things.

The characters in this story are vivid. The two women are both tortured souls who have lost a part of themselves along the way.

A strong theme in this book is finding one’s true happiness by not only finding love but by being true to who you really are.

Cons

I lost sleep when I was reading this because I just couldn’t put it down and ended up reading late into the night even when I was reading again for the sixty-ninth time.

Sheena's favourite novels - reviewed on TheLesbianReview.comConclusion

This is the a fantastic read. Kallmaker has created a moody, epic, romantic, passionate novel that should be read by anyone who really wants to feel passion that spans an eternity.

Excerpt from Christabel by Karin Kallmaker

Everyone turned to the soft voice behind them. For the third time in the last hour, Dina was stricken with vertigo. Surely it was just hunger and fatigue. PMS, maybe. Through the shoulders of the men she saw a woman, or a girl, no, a woman. Her dark eyes were huge and her skin alabaster with rose-stained cheeks and lips. She seemed like a mist, almost as if she wasn’t there. But as she moved down the stairs with a flowing grace that mesmerized Dina, she solidified in Dina’s mind. She has to be a model, but unlike most models, there was nothing boyish or waiflike about her. She was all woman, lushly female.

“You wanted to examine my assets?” Goranson gestured at the newcomer, who stood at the bottom of the stairs. “This is my chief asset, la Christabel.”

Dina looked at Goranson and knew that he understood assets were something you owned. That was when she began to hate him.

 

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Bits and Bobs

If you enjoyed this book then try

Timeless by Rachel Spangler

 

 

 

 

 

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