Jane Rule
Jane Rule (1931-2007) was an influential American-Canadian author known for her contributions to lesbian literature and feminist themes. Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, she pursued her education at Mills College and later taught English before relocating to British Columbia to escape the McCarthy era's political climate. Rule's personal experiences as a lesbian informed her writing, particularly in her first novel, *The Desert of the Heart*, which explores the relationship between two women. Initially published in 1964 after facing publishing challenges, the novel gained recognition and was later adapted into the film *Desert Hearts* in 1985.
Throughout her career, Rule published several novels and essay collections, with notable works including *This Is Not for You* and *The Young in One Another's Arms*. Her writings, particularly *Lesbian Images* (1975), helped establish her as a prominent voice in feminist and LGBTQ literature. Despite health issues in the 1990s that limited her output, Rule remained a significant literary figure until her passing. She was honored with various awards, including the Order of Canada in 2007, and her posthumous memoir, *Taking My Life*, was published in 2011. Jane Rule's legacy continues to resonate, making her a pivotal figure in the representation of lesbian experiences in literature.
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Jane Rule
Author
- Born: March 28, 1931
- Birthplace: Plainfield, New Jersey
- Died: November 27, 2007
- Place of death: Galiano Island, British Columbia, Canada
Biography
Jane Vance Rule was born in 1931 in Plainfield, New Jersey, the daughter of businessman Arthur Richards and Jane Packer. She received her BA from Mills College in Oakland, California, in 1952 and taught English at the Concord Academy in Concord, Massachusetts, from 1954 to 1956. Rule, a lesbian, moved to British Columbia, Canada, to escape the political repression of the McCarthy era and there began a lifelong relationship with college professor Helen Sonthoff, with whom she lived in the Vancouver area. Rule worked at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, as the assistant director of the international house and as a lecturer in English and creative writing.
Publishers in the 1960s were resistant to lesbian literature. Consequently, Rule had difficulty finding a publisher for her first novel, The Desert of the Heart, which involves a relationship between two women who meet in Reno, Nevada, and fall in love. Finally, in 1961, Macmillan in Canada accepted the novel, which was not published until 1964. The novel has been widely read, and has been translated into French, German, Italian, and Dutch. Rule’s second novel, This Is Not for You, also was without a publisher for some time, until it was picked up by McCall Publishing in 1970. The publication of Lesbian Images in 1975 established Rule’s reputation in Canada and the United States as an important figure in feminist and lesbian literature. She followed this collection of essays with another novel, the highly regarded The Young in One Another’s Arms (1977), and a collection of essays and stories, Outlander (1981).
Rule continued to write novels throughout the 1980s, but poor health prevented her from publishing in the 1990s. By this time, she was convinced that she had said everything that she needed to say. She moved with Sonthoff to Galiano Island in British Columbia in 1976. She received several awards, including the Canada Council bursary, 1970–72; the Canadian Authors’ Association best novel award in 1978 and best short story award of 1978; and the American Gay Academic Association Literature Award in 1978. The Desert of the Heart was made into a film, Desert Hearts, in 1985. Rule received the Order of Canada on July 11, 2007.
Rule died on November 27, 2007, at her home on Galiano Island. She was seventy-six. She was predeceased by Sonthoff in 2000. Her memoir Taking My Life was discovered in manuscript form among her papers in 2008, and was posthumously published in 2011.
Bibliography
Forrest, Katherine V. Rev. of Taking My Life, by Jane Rule. Lambda Literary. Lambda Literary, 26 Sept. 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Fox, Margalit. “Jane Rule, Canadian Novelist, Dies at 76.” New York Times. New York Times, 9 Dec. 2007. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Rule, Jane. “Interview: Jane Rule—Inventing and Reinventing Community.” Interview by Eloise Klein Healy. Wellesley Centers for Women. Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley College, 2016. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Rule, Jane. “Jane Rules: Reflections on Living and on Loving.” Interview by Joanne Bealy. Herizons. Herizons, 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Schuster, Marilyn R. “Jane Rule & Rick Bébout, Private Letters / Public Lives: A Queer Love Story.” Canadian Literature 205 (2010): 108–120. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Schuster, Marilyn R. Passionate Communities: Reading Lesbian Resistance in Jane Rule’s Fiction. New York: NYUP, 1999. Print.
Stone, Martha E. “Jane Rule, Pioneer of Lesbian Fiction, Dies at 76.” Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide Mar. 2008: 10. Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson). Web. 20 Apr. 2016.