Ladies of the Rachmaninoff Eyes

Name: Ladies of the Rachmaninoff Eyes
Brand: Tantor Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Henry Van Dyke
ISBN: 9798855527865

Author: Henry Van Dyke, Erik Wood

Narrator: Diontae Black

Unabridged: 4 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/26/2024

Categories: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Lgbtq+

Synopsis

In a small Michigan town, in the late 1950s, the widow Etta Klein—wealthy and Jewish—has for more than thirty years relied for aid, comfort, and companionship on her Black housekeeper Harriet Gibbs. Between "Aunt Harry" and Etta, a relationship has developed that is closer than a friendship, yet not quite a marriage. They are inseparable, at once absurdly unequal and defined by a comic codependence.

Forever mourning the early death of her favorite son, Sargent, Etta has all but adopted Aunt Harry's nephew, the precocious, gay seventeen-year-old Oliver, who has been raised by both women. Oliver is facing down his departure to college—and fending off the advances of Etta's cook, Nella Mae—when the household is disrupted by the arrival of a self-proclaimed "warlock," one Maurice LeFleur, who has convinced Etta and Harry that he might be able to contact Sargent in the afterlife . . .

Ladies of the Rachmaninoff Eyes was the debut of the extraordinary Henry Van Dyke, whose witty and outrageous novels look back to the sparkling, elaborate comedies of Ronald Firbank and forward to postmodern burlesques like Fran Ross's Oreo.

Contains mature themes.

About Henry Van Dyke

Henry Van Dyke (1928-2011) was born in Allegan, Michigan, and grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, where his parents were professors at Alabama State College. He served in the Army in occupied Germany, playing flute in the 427th Marching Band. There he abandoned his early ambition to become a concert pianist and began to write. In 1958, after attending the University of Michigan on the G.I. Bill and living in Ann Arbor, he moved to New York, where he spent the rest of his life. Henry taught creative writing part-time at Kent State University from 1969 until his retirement in 1993, and was the author of four novels, including Blood of Strawberries, a sequel to Ladies of the Rachmaninoff Eyes.

Reviews

Goodreads review by WndyJW on February 12, 2024

Another excellent book from McNally Editions. I tagged this book lgbtq and race issues, but that’s not what the book is about, in fact the most remarkable thing about this unusual story is its unremarkable inclusivity. Written by a Henry Van Dyke, a gay Black man, and published in 1965, the Civil Ri......more

Goodreads review by Dan on June 22, 2020

Full disclosure: The author was once my creative writing professor and briefly mentored me as I wrote my first novel. That being said, I can't believe it took me so long to read his first novel, published two years before I was born. It's not an easy book to find in print, and I think that's a real......more

Goodreads review by Victoria on June 28, 2024

A really unique premise with such vibrant characters. Just as humorous as it is emotional......more

Goodreads review by Minnia on January 15, 2024

Picked up this new McNally Editions - which are just a beautiful tactile experience to hold and read, by the way - on a whim, intrigued by the premise of a gay black teen growing up with his black housekeeper aunt and an old Jewish widow. It’s one of the most original plots I’ve come across, and all......more

Goodreads review by leslie on May 06, 2025

What a strange but fascinating novel. It did not go where I was expecting it to, but that's not a bad thing. A couple awkward transitions here and there, but overall, I really liked this book! Van Dyke's prose is lovely, and there's a host of great, odd characters in here that made it easy to stay e......more