Suzy McKee Charnas

Dorothea Dreams

iUniverse.com
Paperback: April 2000
ISBN: 0595090354

Berkley Publishing Group
Paperback: January 1987
ISBN: 0425094758

Arbor House
Hardcover: April 1986
ISBN: 0877957770

An Excerpt

"Roberto," she said. "What are you going to do?"

"What's it to you? Anyway, why should I tell you anything? You'd just pass it on to the cops, first chance you got."

"You can't stay here indefinitely. Somebody will put two and two together and they'll come here looking for you."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"I'm only telling you what I think is going to happen," she said reasonably. "I have to. I feel responsible. I worry about people getting hurt."

"People already been hurt," he said. "Didn't you notice Quita's arm in a cast? Or maybe that doesn't count?"

"You know what I mean."

"Sure, you mean you don't want any mess in your nice house. You can't wait to get me out of here, can you? Well, you're going to have to wait anyhow. My sister's with me, and she's sick. You think I'm just going to run out on her?"

Oh, Lord, she was tired. She drooped in the chair, not answering.

"What kind of ghost is it?" he said. His eyes were defiant in the lamplight.

She shook her head, sorry she'd let that slip before, about the ghost.

"Come on, what is it?"

"Somebody from a long time ago and another country," she said. "It wouldn't interest you."

"That's right," he said nastily. "I wouldn't know nothing about stuff like that, right? I don't have to. I'll tell you about your ghost. You're crazy, that's all. An old lady living out here in the middle of noplace with a guy that's dying — you see ghosts because you're crazy."

"Maybe I am," she flared, "for trying to talk rationally with you!" Caution gave way. "You're a wrecker, aren't you? You scrawl your stupid signs all over every blank surface like a dog pissing on a wall, throw your damn garbage everywhere, treat the world like your private dumping ground, just for the fun of it!"

He stared at her. "Who the hell you think you're talking to? Shut your face, you dried-up old bitch, or I'll blow it off you!"

"Sure," she said, "that's your credo, isn't it? If it's beautiful, smash it; if it moves, stomp it, spoil it, crush it — you little bastard!"

He swung the shotgun so that she looked down its barrel. here it comes, she thought, amazed at herself.

"I could bust you in pieces, I could blow you away," he said. He kicked out suddenly, knocking a porcelain lamp to the floor, where it shattered. With the butt of the shotgun he slammed through the glass panes of a book cabinet against the wall. She saw his narrowed, angry eyes as he swung back toward her, standing with his legs braced, the gun hugged tightly under his arm again.

I know you, she thought. You're what I'm hiding the wall from.

"You trying to push me into it," he said ferociously. "You want me to blast you, so you can be a hero and I can be a creepy kid who came and blew away this great old lady artist, some kind of special genius, right? Well, fuck you, lady. I'll kill you if I feel like it, got that? If I feel like it, when I feel like it, because I feel like it. You old bitch!"

Someone breathed a word into her ear: "Canaille!"

She snapped her head aside with a gasp and covered her ears.

"Hey," Roberto said.

"Quiet," she whispered. "He's here somewhere, he spoke to me!"

Roberto's eyes widened. Then he laughed angrily. "You never quit, do you? You think I'm some dumb peon you can scare with a ghost story? Fine, you show me your ghost and I'll be scared. If you can't show it, then just shut up about it."

"Get out of my house!" she screamed at him.

"When I'm ready. And when I go, I'll take somebody with me, right? As a hostage. One of those precious people you don't want hurt. Or maybe you."

What reviewers have said about Dorothea Dreams:

"... this novel, as beautifully layered as Dorothea's wall, is also a very human story about love and loss and continuation."

— Publishers Weekly

"Once in a great while you run across a book that is so good that you want to push it in front of people's faces and force them to read it. Dorothea Dreams is... a superb fantasy novel about art, death, and courage.... If you're looking for characters who live and breathe and love, you'll be enthralled."

— Aboriginal Science Fiction

"...fascinating reading.... It is not the structure of the novel that impresses most, but the characterizations and thematic richness... the love scenes between Dorothea and Ricky, the dying man, are beautiful and touching rather than lurid or syrupy... the complex and reclusive Dorothea... is a magnificent creation, fully realized: a middle-aged artist with enough dormant strength to sustain three people, as she discovers through the ordeal... This is a good novel not in spite of being a ghost story but rather because it's a ghost story — and a beautifully realized one at that."

— Washington Post Book World

"An original novel, straddling several genres... about a reclusive, elderly woman artist in New Mexico who has dropped out generally... The subplot finds some very well-drawn Chicano youths... fearful of arrest abducting a school art class in a van on its way to Dorothea's for a rare visit... The youths are armed, violent adolescents and danger is real... Somehow the youths bloom beyond stereotypes while long talks between Dorothea and [her old friend] Ricky have an adult spunk and intelligence not often found in fiction.... overall, uncliched, low-keyed, the excitement anchored in character.

— Kirkus Reviews

"Injustice... is a major theme of the novel. This is balanced by a sense of pattern and compensation in human affairs. Charnas' main literary strength is her emotional grit: her ability to bring life to good, workmanlike, flinty prose, which in turn gives life to the people we meet in the novel."

— SF Commentary

"Charnas portrays an older woman trapped first in isolation, then in a frightening reality where only paranormal experiences offer freedom. The vivid perceptions of this 'mature' protagonist ('She could see him: a child bringing death') enriches an unusual plot."

— Bookwatch

"The author of The Vampire Tapestry delicately probes the borders of fantasy in a novel that offers very human solutions to an ancient struggle."

— Library Journal

"It is a fantasy, ... but one that takes reality seriously. Charnas treats frankly the decline of Dorothea's visiting friend Ricky, who is dying of cancer. She... writes a literate prose warmed with the gleanings of people watching: the cameo of a teacher in over her head is delightful. She also roots her metaphysics in earthly detail, in the best fantasy tradition... "

— Albuquerque Journal

"... an intimate book, a book to savour privately. Charnas has a high-burning talent."

— James Tiptree Jr.

"... an excellent novel almost entirely in a mainstream mode.... The supernatural element is genuine, if not quite what it appears to be.... In vivid, poignant scenes from a range of viewpoints, spiced with just a hint of the fantastic, Charnas reveals the confusion and splendor of humanity."

— Locus

"This unusual novel subtly weaves an element of fantasy throughout its realistic story with sensitive, memorable characters and a compelling plot. A winner."

— Coast Book Review Service

"Charnas's latest reflects her deep knowledge of history.... [She] has a fine command of language and a great gift for using regional settings effectively. "

— ALA Booklist

"... the characters are as interesting and complex as the issues. Ricky, the dying travel writer, and Blanca, the feisty, asthmatic adolescent, are especially fine. The descriptions of Pinto Street made this transplanted New Mexican very homesick indeed. Dorothea Dreams is a good read on a grey winter day."

— Fantasy Review

"Ricky's terminal illness has not a shred of maudlin sentimentality in it. It's so maturely handled you wish it could become a sort of "final paper" for all those who are facing a similar fate in their own lives.... Charnas' young people, the hoodlums as well as their high school hostages, are so genuine they'll make you wince. The author catches them perfectly, their amateurish defenses, their vulnerability and maddening vacillation..."

— Rocky Mountain News