 Cover of first edition | |
| Author | Patricia A. McKillip |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Bildungsroman |
| Publisher | Atheneum |
Publication date | 1982 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 207 |
| ISBN | 0-689-11211-4 |
Stepping from the Shadows is a novel by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover by Atheneum in 1982, with a paperback edition issued by Berkley Books in August 1984. [1]
The semi-autobiographical coming of age story of Frances Stuart, a sensitive, imaginative child and "army brat" whose life is disrupted by her family's moves from Arizona to Germany and England. As a second grader in a nun-taught parochial school she is instill with dread of sin and retribution, and as she grows she continues to be tormented by self-judgment and discomfort in regard to her sexuality. The former she unloads in writing on an invented "shadow sister," while the latter she symbolizes as a "Stagman" who appears to her when she experiences unwelcome erotic feelings. These fixations continue to trouble her as a college student in Los Angeles and as she strikes out on her own, finding her own voice as a writer in the Pacific Northwest and ultimately a writers' colony in New England.
Barbara A. Bannon in Publishers Weekly, noting McKillip's status as "[a]n author of outstanding books for younger readers," calls this, "her first novel for adults, a real spellbinder." She observes the story's "sensitive, balladlike prose" and calls the section on the protagonist as a college woman in California "the story's high point." [2]
Charles Champlin in the Los Angeles Times finds the book "rich, particular and extremely appealing," characterizing it as "a beautifully written, honest, frequently funny and self-unsparing chronicle ... of the growing up of a young woman who cannot be different, in any significant spiritual way, from McKillip herself. In its unassertive intimacy and fragility--and despite its rare literary grace--"Stepping From the Shadows" seems a small publishing miracle, whose appearance on the spring list means that an editor loved it, not that anyone thought it would make a dime." [3]
Joyce Smothers in Library Journal calls the book "a departure from the author's seven award-winning fantasy novels for young adults," an "obscure, challenging novel of psychological realism," "[r]ich in poetic description ... long on introspection and short on plot." She notes that a "variety of exotic settings add to the novel," and recommends it "for large fiction collections, and for the perceptive reader." [4]
The Hartford Courant praised the novel for "vivid imaginings" and "lyrical prose." [5]
The book was also reviewed by Phyllis J. Day in Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Review no. 10, December 1982, Charles de Lint in Dragonfields: Tales of Fantasy no. 4, Winter 1983, and Robert Coulson in Amazing Stories v. 59, no. w, September 1985. [1]
Patricia Anne McKillip is an American author of fantasy and science fiction novels.
Lesbian pulp fiction is a genre of lesbian literature that refers to any mid-20th century paperback novel or pulp magazine with overtly lesbian themes and content. Lesbian pulp fiction was published in the 1950s and 60s by many of the same paperback publishing houses as other genres of fiction including westerns, romances, and detective fiction. Because very little other literature was available for and about lesbians at this time, quite often these books were the only reference the public had for modeling what lesbians were. Stephanie Foote, from the University of Illinois commented on the importance of lesbian pulp novels to the lesbian identity prior to the rise of organized feminism: "Pulps have been understood as signs of a secret history of readers, and they have been valued because they have been read. The more they are read, the more they are valued, and the more they are read, the closer the relationship between the very act of circulation and reading and the construction of a lesbian community becomes...Characters use the reading of novels as a way to understand that they are not alone."
Ann Weldy, better known by her pen name Ann Bannon, is an American author who, from 1957 to 1962, wrote six lesbian pulp fiction novels known as The Beebo Brinker Chronicles. The books' enduring popularity and impact on lesbian identity has earned her the title "Queen of Lesbian Pulp Fiction". Bannon was a young housewife trying to address her own issues of sexuality when she was inspired to write her first novel. Her subsequent books featured four characters who reappeared throughout the series, including her eponymous heroine, Beebo Brinker, who came to embody the archetype of a butch lesbian. The majority of her characters mirrored people she knew, but their stories reflected a life she did not feel she was able to live. Despite her traditional upbringing and role in married life, her novels defied conventions for romance stories and depictions of lesbians by addressing complex homosexual relationships.
Ann Downer (1960–2015) was an American writer, principally of fantasy novels for children and young adults, as well as short fiction and poetry.
The Nebula Awards #18 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by American writer Robert Silverberg. It was first published in hardcover by Arbor House in October 1983; a paperback edition with cover art by Gary LoSasso was issued by Bantam Books in September 1984.
Sherry M. Thomas is an American novelist of young adult fantasy, historical romance, and contemporary romance. She has won multiple awards including the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Historical Romance for Not Quite a Husband in 2010 and His at Night in 2011. Most best-of-romance lists include one of her titles.
The Studio is a 1969 non-fiction book by John Gregory Dunne about the workings at 20th Century Fox from May 1967 to May 1968. He was allowed significant access to the studio over several months.
Harrowing the Dragon is a collection of fantasy short stories by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover and ebook by Ace Books in November 2005, and in trade paperback by the same publisher in November 2006. The first British edition was issued in ebook by Gateway/Orion on December 17, 2015.
Wonders of the Invisible World is a collection of fantasy short stories by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by Tachyon Publications in October 2012. The title of both the collection and the first story in it derive from the 1693 book of the same title by Cotton Mather.
Dreams of Distant Shores is a collection of fantasy stories by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in ebook by Tachyon Publications in May 2016, with the trade paperback print edition following from the same publisher in June 2016.
Fool's Run is a science fiction novel by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover by Warner Books in April 1987, with a paperback edition issued by Questar/Popular Library in February 1988. The first British edition was published in paperback by Orbit in June 1987, with a hardcover edition following from Macdonald in August of the same year. The novel has also been translated into Italian.
The Bards of Bone Plain is a fantasy novel by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover and ebook by Ace Books in December 2010, with a book club edition issued simultaneously with the Science Fiction Book Club and a trade paperback edition following December 2011. The first British edition was published in ebook by Gateway/Orion in December 2015.
The Changeling Sea is a fantasy novel for juvenile readers by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover by Atheneum/Macmillan in October 1988, with a paperback edition issued by Del Rey/Ballantine in December 1989. It was subsequently reissued in paperback and ebook by Firebird/Penguin in April 2003. The first British edition was published in hardcover by Oxford University Press in September 1991, with an ebook edition following from Gateway/Orion in December 2015.
Kingfisher is a fantasy novel by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover and ebook by Ace Books in February 2016. The first British edition was published in ebook by Gateway/Orion in June 2017.
Something Rich and Strange is a fantasy novel by Patricia A. McKillip written for Brian Froud's Faerielands series under the inspriation of Froud's fantasy artwork.. Its title is derived from a line in Shakespeare's The Tempest. The book was first published in hardcover by Bantam Spectra in November 1994, with a trade paperback edition following from ibooks in October 2005. It was later incorporated into the author's collection Dreams of Distant Shores, issued by Tachyon Publications in ebook and trade paperback in May 2016 and June 2016, respectively.
Moon-Flash is a science fiction novel for juvenile readers by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover by Atheneum in August 1984, with a paperback edition issued by Berkley Books in October 1985. It was subsequently combined with its sequel The Moon and the Face in an omnibus edition, also titled Moon-Flash, issued in paperback and ebook by Firebird/Penguin in March 2005.
The Moon and the Face is a science fiction novel for juvenile readers by Patricia A. McKillip, a sequel to her earlier novel Moon-Flash. It was first published in hardcover by Atheneum in September 1985, with a paperback edition issued by Berkley Books in October 1986. It was subsequently combined with its prequel Moon-Flash in an omnibus edition, also titled Moon-Flash, issued in paperback and ebook by Firebird/Penguin in March 2005.
The Cygnet and the Firebird is a fantasy novel by Patricia A. McKillip, a sequel to her earlier novel The Sorceress and the Cygnet. Despite a mixed reception, it was nominated for the 1994 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature. It was first published in hardcover by Ace Books in September 1993, with a paperback following from the same publisher in September 1995. The first British edition was published in paperback by Pan Books in July 1994. It was subsequently combined with The Sorceress and the Cygnet into the omnibus collection Cygnet, issued in trade paperback by Ace Books in March 2007. It has also been translated into French.
The Sorceress and the Cygnet is a fantasy novel by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover by Ace Books in May 1991, with a paperback edition following from the same publisher in January 1992. The first British edition was published in hardcover and trade paperback by Pan Books in June 1991, with a standard paperback edition following from the same publisher in May 1992. It was subsequently combined with its sequel The Cygnet and the Firebird into the omnibus collection Cygnet, issued in trade paperback by Ace Books in March 2007.
Gods of Jade and Shadow is a historical fantasy novel by Canadian-Mexican novelist Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It was first published in hardcover and ebook by Del Rey Books in July 2019, followed by a trade paperback edition from the same publisher in February 2020. The first British edition was issued in trade paperback by Jo Fletcher Books in February 2020.