The Phoenix

Rating:
Summary: MAGNIFICENT VICTORIAN SAGA, but...
Review:
I CAN'T be disappointed in THE PHOENIX. Ruth Sims provides a wonderfully literary panorama of treachery, love, hate, insanity, murder, attempted murder, disfigurement, poverty, wealth, child and wife abuse, friendship, jealousy, homosexuality, bisexuality, passion and pain, as played out in Victorian time.

I CAN'T be disappointed in the author. Sims obviously did her homework and provides a glorious and insightful in-depth peek at life as it existed in an earlier age, complete with all of its handsomeness, beauty, and accompanying warts. There's no doubt that she DID spend all of twenty years writing this book and getting it right (and spent a good many additional hours in seeing that it got proper editing - the novel one of most typo-free I've lately seen).

I CAN be disappointed in any potential readers who'll pass this one by and fail to give it the best-selling status it deserves. My fear being that, despite all of the raves that THE PHOENIX continues to garner (including from me), it'll prove too much of a challenge for the average reader whose attention span has been narrowed, these days, by fast food, one-hour television plots, and reading material that doesn't require too much effort by way of active grey matter. The days gone, or at least having become fewer and farther between, I'm afraid, when someone actually has the time, or takes the time, to sit down with a good book to enjoy the intricacies of plot-and-character development that spans decades, leaps continents, and takes the time, like THE PHOENIX, to weave the true marvel of complexities-entwined story-line.

I CAN hope that gay readers, to whom this book seems to be chiefly marketed can, if just for a few hours, pull themselves away from reading popular gay writers, like William Maltese (whose books, by the way, even I admit are genuinely great with their bountiful sex, humor, and fast-paced action), for this slower, more gentle-paced exploration of homosexuality in an historical setting when male-male sexual encounters were even far less acceptable than they are today. Readers (gay and straight alike) who don't take the time to read THE PHOENIX will miss out on a truly unique experience (the opportunities for which are becoming harder and harder to find).


Rating:
Summary: Page-turningly pre-modernist
Review: As someone who is usually immersed in modernist literature (you know, Joyce, Woolf, Proust, the kinda stuff that isn't particularly enjoyable or even necessarily completely comprehensible but that the literary intelligencia has told us we ALL have to read, and call me a masochist, because I DO like reading that stuff), I found this book to be a breath of fresh, pre-modernist air. And in no way do I use the term "pre-modernist" pejoratively, or to imply that the novel is in any way obvious or dumbed down. By "pre-modernist" I mean that it's a throwback, of sorts, to the fiction of Dickens, Austen and Hardy, when things like character and plot still meant something. I literally could not put this book down; its characters are charismatic and multifaceted, its plot twists intricate and unpredictable. The author has a fine sense of time and place, and an even finer ability to delve into the souls of characters who (going by the author's background) might as well have lived in a parallel universe--the sign of an author who possesses both a rich, free-flowing imagination and a profound, generous humanity. Either that or she's really a gay man trapped in a heterosexual grandmother's body. Five stars out of five.

Rating:
Summary: The Phoenix
Review: During my vacation I was thrilled to pick up a copy of The Phoenix by Ruth Sims at a wonderful GLBT store in Phoenix, how appropriate I guess to by The Phoenix in Phoenix. I heard about this book through a group I belong via Kevin and actually met Ruth Sims through this group.

Each night before retiring I picked up the book and read for an hour or so, to say the least I found myself not wanting to put it down but since each day was filled with so much to do I had to pace myself. Yet is was very hard to do as I became riveted from the first page. Unfortunately I was not able, not really unfortunately as it makes it sound I was not enjoying myself on vacation which I was, to get too far into the book during the week but each and every page was exciting and I got so into the main characters. By the time I got to the airport on Sunday for my return home I may have been short of a quarter of the way through the book. By the time I arrived in Baltimore I was nearly through the book and today finished it. Ruth if you read this know that to say your book touched me is inadequate. You wrote such a story that filled me with such warmth, compassion, love, intrigue, highs and lows and ultimately joy that was immeasurable.

To me this book touched into many corners of my own life and I realted to Nico throughout the torment his life held, although it took place long ago it is not much different today for those of us who are/were married and fell into a man to man love . It also was exciting as Kit's life in theatre was also very much like mine as well as it is now my work. This book touched me, made me laugh, brought many tears to my cheeks and made me aware of the fact that true love will not falter or fail. The key word is true love, willingness of both to give all of themselves to their partner even their life if need be. It gave me the excitement to know that there is indeed a love out there for me and it will be for me without question.

I encourage you to find this book be you a gay man, a lesbian, transgendered, bi or straight and read it. Ruth has been able to bring to light in such a loving and gentle manner many answers to gay grealtionships. Thank you Ruth for a wonderful work of art. I tip my hat to you and hop it will become a best seller as it truly should be.

Joseph

Rating:
Summary: Really Good Book
Review: I admit I almost didn't read this book. I'm a gay man and I didn't think a woman could possibly write about people like me. And I don't usually like historical stories. I'm glad I didn't listen to me!

This is a great story with characters who may be Victorian, but inside they're just like people I know. Kit is really hot, and if he were real, I'd chase him like crazy. And Nick's religious conflict was painfully real. I found myself really sympathetic to Nick's wife and Kit's female friend who was "sure she could change him." It was violent, sad, funny, and shocking, and sometimes pretty chilling. My only criticism is that I wish the sex scenes had been more explicit, but it was still a pretty sexy story with a great ending.

Rating:
Summary: A real Victorian Novel...authentic in every way
Review: Like Tess of the d'Urbervilles or Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, this Victorian novel is replete with plot twists, years-long detours, providential meetings, villainy, and a great deal of drama. And yet like Laura Argiri's The God in Flight , it differs from most other Victorian novels in that the two main characters who meet and fall in love are both men. One is an adopted son with a dark secret and a Dickensian background who has taken on a new identity, and the other is an uptight doctor with a strong religious background that would have made any Puritan proud.

Kit St. Denys, who began life as Jack Rourke (a street thief and pickpocket), is an up-and-coming actor in London. He has gone from poverty and abuse at fourteen when he fatally stabs his abusive father, to riches when he is adopted by a man who introduces him to the world of the wealthy and the theatre. Nick Stuart, the young doctor, is a troubled man who becomes estranged from his strict, unforgiving father when he goes off to medical school. Although his father is also a doctor, he is unwilling to allow his son to step beyond the small village and turns his back on Nick when he leaves home. Kit and Nick meet after one of Kit's critically acclaimed performances and, from there, they begin a troubled but madly-in-love relationship that takes many years to resolve.

In telling the story, Ruth Sims doesn't shirk her Victorian responsibilities. She meticulously and in a most interesting way takes time to tell the back stories of each of the main characters. By the time Kit and Nick meet, readers already know of Kit's past life, of the death of his brother at his father's hands, of his mother's abandonement of him and his brother and their abusive father, and how Kit comes to be "adopted" by his rich benefactor. Readers already know of Nick's back-story as well, and of his first experience with another boy in his village, how it both awakened him to that side of himself, as well as frightened him of the damnation in it if he ever followed through with such feelings.

Further, Nick's religious background causes him the deepest pain in loving Kit. "He loved Kit in the way God meant him to love a woman. It was as simple and as soul-damning as that." While this problem should have been enough to doom their relationship, Kit has demons of his own, never able to shake the nightmares of his father's abuse, nor of the night he left him for dead. "The old man wrestled with him. Seized his hand. Forced it down upon ... Michael's rotting flesh ... His hands sank into soft eyes, into putrefying brain."

But like any good Victorian novel, these problems are not enough to keep Kit and Nick from a deep love for each other. Nor is a whole host of plot twists, including marriage, time, and distance. It is these plot twists, which I won't reveal, that make this a proper Victorian read. And Sims writes with authority of the times in which the book is set. From the drawing rooms of high-society England in the latter part of the 19th Century, to the days in New York City when the Trusts owned all the theatres, or controlled them so thoroughly that a play did not get a billing unless it was approved by the trust. There is also a convincing description of Circus life, and that of life "out West" in America of the 19th Century.

And yet, Kit and Nick persevere through numerous reversals of fortune, years of estrangement, entanglements, and madness in a "snake pit" even Joan Crawford would find disheartening. Those who enjoy historical fiction and Victorian novels, especially, will become enthralled with The Phoenix. Sims fulfills the implied promise an author makes to readers to bring all the subplots together in a logical and satisfying resolution at the end. The main characters and supporting cast are fully developed and ones readers will believe; and like any good Victorian novel, the villain is one who can be booed and hissed off stage, without being melodramatic.
-Ronald L. Donaghe, author of The Early Journals of Will Barnett

Rating:
Summary: An amazing first novel.
Review: Ruth Sims' novel, "The Phoenix", begins in 1882 London.

"But he's coming today, Jack. I know he is." Jack Roarke and his twin, Michael, dreaded their abusive father's homecoming. Shortly after Tom Roarke's return from the sea, the boys' uncaring mother had enough of her husband's beatings and left home, abandoning her sons. As Jack later states, "My father was a demon and my mother was a Whitechapel whore." Money was scarce and the thirteen year old boys were frequently hungry. Escaping his father for awhile, Jack wandered the city streets. He noticed a theater and went inside. Fascinated, he watched a rehearsal. Lizbet, the theater owner, took an instant liking to the bruised, but beautiful blonde boy. She taught Jack to read, to speak proper English-his cockney accent was gone. Jack did odd jobs around the theater and acted in small roles.

After a horrifying experience at home, involving his father, Lizbet took Jack away to St. Denys Hill, a country estate owned by her cousin, Xavier St. Denys. A wealthy entrepreneur and theater owner, St. Denys eventually adopted the boy. Jack's name was changed to Christopher, later affectionately shortened to Kit. Under St. Denys' tutelage, Kit grew to be an educated, cultured young man-and a talented actor. Kit was deeply saddened when his step-father died. He truly loved Xavier. As the only heir, Kit inherited St. Denys' sizeable fortune. With the inheritance, Kit started his own repertory company.

"The phoenix destroys itself in fire of its own making, then gives birth to itself again, endlessly." Like the phoenix, Jack Roarke, street urchin, was reborn as Kit St. Denys, the famous and respected stage actor.

"Four years before Jack Roarke was brought howling in protest into his squalid world, a boy was born to a self-taught physician and his wife, in a village lying on a slope of the Cotswolds." Nicholas Stuart's family was staunchly religious. Nick had to attended interminable three hour church services. Beyond boredom in church, Nick day-dreamed that he, "...ran barefoot in the thick green grass, or pranced with abandon in the rain, his head thrown back to catch raindrops on his tongue."

Nick's devout father was both doctor and veterinarian to the residents of the area. From the age of nine, Nick was groomed to take his father's place. As Nick matured, he realized he wanted to attend medical school to learn modern treatment methods. He didn't want to be stuck in the country his entire life. Over his father's objections, and with his mother's covert help, Nick went to medical school. After graduation, he opened a clinic for London's impoverished citizens.

One night, a group of his classmates insisted Nick accompany them to see a production of Hamlet at the Xavier Theater. Nick couldn't take his eyes off the play's star, Kit. Nick returned night after night, using dinner money to buy tickets, spellbound by Kit's portrayal of Hamlet. At the end of one performance, Kit injured his arm on a prop. The call for a doctor was answered by Nick. Kit was instantly attracted to handsome, blue-eyed Nick Stuart. They became lovers.

For a year Kit and Nick led peaceful, happy lives, but Kit's free and easy worldly ways frequently clashed with Nick's basic religious ideals. Nick was frequently left with doubts...he feared God's disapproval of his love for Kit.

Kit suffered from terrible nightmares, always seeing his evil father coming to beat him...or worse. When Kit was with a man for the night, the nightmares weren't so bad. He felt safer when he was held, just as he and Michael held each other as children, to comfort each other in the face of their father's fury. Nick the Puritan, didn't understand Kit's promiscuous past. He accused him of sleeping with half the men in England. "Half Nico? Only half? My God, how did that happen?" Nick replied, "You bypassed the ugly, the insane, and the dead!"

"The Phoenix" encompasses years and spans two continents, as the lovers' paths providentially cross, time and time again. Never predictable, Ruth Sims smoothly guides the plot through unforeseen events as the lives of Kit St. Denys and Nick Stuart come together. During one of their sojourns, Kit gave Nick a rare book of Shakespearian sonnets. On the flyleaf Kit inscribed:

Without the sanction of Society,
Without the sanction of the Church,
Without the sanction of God,
I love you.

Sims' characters' come to life on the pages of "The Phoenix". Kit, Nick, and supporting characters are believable, indeed loveable, and true to the time they lived in. The author researched the era well. I found myself living in the story, seeing it unfold through Kit's and Nick's eyes. I was on the Brooklyn Bridge, "...marveling at the mighty grace of the twisted steel cables of the "Eighth Wonder of the World."" Posh theaters in London and New York, and behind-the-scenes theater happenings came to life, as did the squalor of the slums of turn-of-the-century London and New York.

Ruth Sims is a natural wordsmith. Sentences such as, "The clanging bells of ambulances sharpened the afternoon into a thousand knives." ...are liberally peppered throughout "The Phoenix," Sims' first novel is a bona fide page turner. Just as Kit and Nick's lives seem to once again settle down, a horror from the past appears, and threatens to destroy them. I literally gave up any semblance of social life to find out what would ultimately become of Kit and Nick. Without a doubt, "The Phoenix" is a solid five star read.


Rating:
Summary: Ruth Sims has written a book.
Review: THE PHOENIX
By Ruth Sims
Paperback: 343 pages
Publisher: Writers' Collective (September 1, 2004)
ISBN: 1932133402
$16.95 US
$22.95 Canada
Available at Amazon.com B&N
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Ruth Sims has written a book. I read a sample of Ruth's work elsewhere. That's why I drove into Philadelphia to buy it; $18.14, tax included. I put the book by my reading chair. I eyed the book for several days. I looked at the rich cover and admired the details featured on each beginning chapter page. I studied Ruth's photograph on the back. Her confident smile teased me.
"You know something I don't," I murmured to her.
Fifty pages into THE PHOENIX, I found out what. Ruth Sims is a consummate artist.
Now I know traditional reviews are replete with paragraphs full of character descriptions and plot analysis. I'm not a traditional reviewer. I'm not a reviewer at all. I'm a writer and so there will be none of that here.
What I want to tell you about is a talent. A talent that takes you, the reader, by the hand and says, "Come, walk, run, eat, sleep, bathe, laugh, cry, be brave and fearful, succeed, fail, mature and make love in a time and place you've only glimpsed in grainy films and stiff photographs. The story opens in the London of 1882 and closes as Le Belle Epoch tumbles into the age of automation.
The remarkable thing, for me at least, is the economy of words Sims uses.
I will offer only one example. Kit, the hero of the story, is in the home of a New York judge. "...Here the statues and pictures were no different than one would see in any grand home on the Avenue. Such neutered and strangulating respectability."
Such neutered and strangulating respectability; with just five words you know that the nude statues and paintings in the judge's library have been altered. Fig leaves and added drapery cover the subjects; no genitals are seen, no hint of sexuality-all in five words. Time and again Ruth Sims tells you what is, by telling you what is not.
Don't get me wrong. There are 343 pages in THE PHOENIX. Ruth Sims is not stingy in her storytelling.
Want a book you'll urge others to read? Then run, do not walk, and get a copy of THE PHOENIX.
Oh by the way, the most important word to remember in this little report is talent-there is no substitute!

Michael Halfhill
Author of BOUGHT AND PAID FOR
www.michalehalfhill.com




Rating:
Summary: Unusual novel
Review: There are gay novels. There are fast-reading, entertaining novels. There are historical novels. There are socially relevant novels. Not very often do they all meet in one book, as they have in this one.

The story opens with Jack, an abused fourteen-year-old Victorian London pickpocket with old and bitter eyes. He barely escapes the slums with his life and it takes a knife in his father's chest to get him away. Eventually he re-creates himself as an actor, captivates the theatre world and everyone who sees him, both men and women, and against his will falls in love with Nick, a God-tormented doctor. I don't want to be a spoiler so I won't give away the intricate plot except to say there are blind corners and shocking events. Even the supporting characters are believable and unforgettable. I adored Nick and wanted to slap Kit silly sometimes. Among the supporting cast I will never forget Nick's wife Bronwyn, or Rama and her crazy hats and Francis and his "Falstaffian girth" and the devoted love they both had for Kit.

One thing I especially liked about the book was the way the author got into the heads, to some degree, of characters other than the protagonists. That's one thing I look for in a novel (which is why, I suppose, first person novels bore me to death.)

I very much hope there are many more books from Ruth Sims, who is skilled and imaginative. Most of all I hope there is a sequel to The Phoenix.



Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Victorian Novel
Review: There are so many layers in this book that the plot is like a mountain road--you can't tell what's around the bend. The characters, even the minor ones, are beautifully done and sympathetic. Except the abusive father, of course, and he's despicable. There is humor I didn't expect, and places where I cried. There's gay sex but it's not overdone and more is left to the imagination than is spelled out, and I like that. The theatre history is really interesting, and the reader knows there was a lot of research involved but it isn't intrusive and doesn't overwhelm the story. If this book is pigeonholed as being only for gay men that will be a shame. It's truly a genre-crossing story that will appeal to gay men, yes, but also any open-minded person who loves an exciting story and wonderful characters. I read a lot of books. I haven't read many that I would give 5 stars to. This is one of them.

Rating:
Summary: Historical Romance
Review: Two boys are born in Victorian England, one into poor and abusive circumstances and the other to a rigid Christian family. One is abandoned by his mother, loses his twin brother, and commits a murder before adulthood, the other focuses on education as a way to break away from his rigid father. One boy escapes to London where he is taken in by a wealthy man who eventually adopts him. This boy, who has changed his name to Kit, goes on to the London stage and is a famous actor when he first encounters the other young man, Nick, who has become a struggling young doctor. They fall in love and have lots of torrid sex, as young men wont to do. If these two weren't both males, I would swear I was reading one of the bodice-ripping romances I was so fond of when I was in my teens. This book has it all: lust, betrayal, murder and more lust.

Though the book is written by a woman, Ruth Sims builds a great deal of gay-male sexual tension into the plot. I suppose if the readers want the sex scenes blow-by-blow (no pun intended) they might be disappointed. But the pages are full of passion where bodies are young and hard and willing. An epic story spanning decades, The Phoenix is good escape fiction. In fact, reading a novel like this is like having a friend ready and waiting for you to turn to again for as long as it takes to read all 350 pages.

Sims' characters are well developed and fatally flawed (in the tradition of all great characters), but the reader will have no problem finding compassion for them. Every choice these guys make is supported by the facts of their lives and the facts of the era in which they live. The book includes a vivid view of London theater in the days of Oscar Wilde, when love between men was a crime punishable by prison and a close up look at brutality and poverty for which there is no escape.

The one difficulty is that the story is told through multiple third-person point-of-view. And I do mean multiple. Not only are we inside the heads of the two lovers, but all the people around them too. This gives the reader more information than main characters have. Despite the fact that many modern writers employ this point of view, it is difficult to maintain without confusion. Maybe Sims was going for dramatic irony. We know that Kip's father has shown up and we know what is on the guy's mind before the character knows (well, actually Kip never knows what is on his father's mine). I feel the book could be improved by limiting the internal voices to those of the main characters.

That aside I think it's too bad that this book will be pigeon holed as "gay male." I find it extremely frustrating that publishers, distributors, and bookstores put labels on books that limit the public's ability to know about them. A novel that involves the struggle against a hostile culture and yearnings of the human heart, as this does, is for everyone.