If you are expecting a straightforward dive into lesbian erotica by
Tanith Lee (or Esther Garber), you will be pleasantly disappointed.
This brief, dense and somewhat experimental book explores the erotic
imagination, the nature of memory and mediates on aging. Sexual
obsession is the focal point through which many discursive images and
ideas flow.

The plot finds 17-year old Esther fleeing London after her mother's
dramatic death. She absconds on a boat across the Channel, and ends
up in drab hotel in rainy Paris slum. The amoral and jaundiced
Esther is mistaken for a prostitute by the front desk clerk and her
services are bought by a virago named Julie, who poses as a man. The
sexual chemistry between them awakes passions in Esther. Julie
leaves after the tryst. Thus begins Esther's quest, almost mythic in
scope, to find Julie.

If "34" is not a fantasy, it does not happen in the real world.
Rather than a traditional `other world', the action takes place in
the clouded, magical world of memory and perception, as the first
person narrator encounters patently incorrect or wrong things (such
as a dog that is part wild boar) or too surreal (such as a Gothic
mansion).

The main narrative is interrupted by glimpses into a distant
childhood past in Egypt and visions of a future Esther, who is going
through menopause in London, and may or may not have a sister (or
alter-ego, Anna). Both the future and the past Esthers live in a
reality closer to `normality.' The child faces loss and dislocation;
the old woman is trapped by her illnesses and indolence. Both are
prone to extensive fantasizing.

All of these disparate threads are held together by hypnotic,
feverish prose and a dark, sardonic wit. Mythology intersects
reality—Demeter, Persephone and Isis all have cameos here. Female
ciphers, villains and strange children cavort on the stage.
Eroticism and desire infuse everything, obliterating logic and reason.

This novel isn't for everyone, though. The vaporous, meandering
storyline and the disturbing, politically incorrect sexuality on
display here will stop many a reader. But those who like
sophisticated erotica and experimental fiction will find this Angela
Carter meets George Bataille work entrancing.
http://www.tanithlee.com