Passing Strange by Ellen Klages

I had the lovely opportunity to hear Ellen Klages read some of her writing earlier this year at the American Bookbinders Museum in downtown San Francisco in June at the SF In SF event. It was at that time that I became interested in reading some of her novels.

I'd added Passing Strange by Ellen Klages to my reading wishlist on Bookcrossing. A short time later, I was surprised with a used paperback copy of Passing Strange by Ellen Klages from another Bookcrosser in September 2018. The joys of bookish surprises from other avid readers is phenomenal!

Passing Strange by Ellen Klages is a novella that falls into the LGBT and science fiction/fantasy genres. I really liked this novella a lot. The writing is solid. I enjoyed the characters immensely and the storyline as well. The ending for Passing Strange by Ellen Klages was funny, but it left me wondering what happened to two of the main characters, Haskel and Emily, that I thought would be explained with the ending of the novel.

The following is a plot summary for Passing Strange by Ellen Klages, which I found on Amazon's website:

Inspired by the pulps, film noir, and screwball comedy, Passing Strange is a story as unusual and complex as San Francisco itself from World Fantasy Award winning author Ellen Klages, and a finalist for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella

San Francisco in 1940 is a haven for the unconventional. Tourists flock to the cities within the city: the Magic City of the World’s Fair on an island created of artifice and illusion; the forbidden city of Chinatown, a separate, alien world of exotic food and nightclubs that offer “authentic” experiences, straight from the pages of the pulps; and the twilight world of forbidden love, where outcasts from conventional society can meet.

Six women find their lives as tangled with each other’s as they are with the city they call home. They discover love and danger on the borders where magic, science, and art intersect.

I am giving Passing Strange by Ellen Klages a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!