The Penguin Book of Lesbian Short StoriesMargaret Reynolds And more than that - sometimes women love women. Like Queen Victoria, the world has preferred to believe that sex between women is impossible, resulting in a long silence between the writings of Sappho and the flowering of talent produced by feminism and the sexual revolution. Lesbian writing has come a long way since Virginia Woolf's famous essay of 1928. Since then women have challenged traditional forms of expression and subject matter in an extraordinarily rich and varied discourse to give voice to the lesbian imagination. In this wide-ranging anthology, Margaret Reynolds has brought together the work of thirty-two women from Britain, continental Europe, and the Americas - including three specially commissioned pieces - that covers nearly a century of lesbian writing, from Sarah Orne Jewett (1897) to Jeanette Winterson (1993). The collection ranges from Frances Gapper's pastiche of a Romantic melodrama, through the wry humor of Merril Mushroom's description of butch and femme courting rituals, to the wit of Alison Bechdel's cartoon strip. The anxiety of unresolved desire is present in many stories - Radclyffe Hall's Miss Ogilvy is unable truly to find herself in this world, Djuna and Lillian hold back from each other in Anais Nin's "Cities of the Interior", and the energy and commitment that should go into a loving relationship are stifled by convention in Jane Rule's story of passion outside marriage. But here are brave spirits, too - Renee Vivien's Sarolta and her Prince(ss) live forever in a vision of ideal tenderness, Colette's heroines preserve the sanctity of their little white bed, and Jewelle Gomez's bulldagger society survives far from the haunts of men. There arecoming-out stories, stories about cross-dressing, vampire tales, science fiction, parody, and romance. Each story is quite different from the others, yet each acknowledges a particular facet of lesbian history and makes it real. |
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Page 11
... trying to please one whom she truly loved . She never thought of trying to make other people pleased with herself ; all she lived for was to do the best she could for others , and to conform to an ideal , which grew at last to be like a ...
... trying to please one whom she truly loved . She never thought of trying to make other people pleased with herself ; all she lived for was to do the best she could for others , and to conform to an ideal , which grew at last to be like a ...
Page 269
... trying to substitute for the fact that she cannot achieve the one perfect relationship in this sad world : the relationship between a dyke and her cat . Haven't you noticed it ? Here we all are pushing forty and having to settle for ...
... trying to substitute for the fact that she cannot achieve the one perfect relationship in this sad world : the relationship between a dyke and her cat . Haven't you noticed it ? Here we all are pushing forty and having to settle for ...
Page 371
... tried to creep past us on the wall . Neither of us moved to kill it , but when it stopped and waved its antennae , he ... trying to look past me into our apartment , ' you wouldn't have so much trouble with vermins . ' I pretended not to ...
... tried to creep past us on the wall . Neither of us moved to kill it , but when it stopped and waved its antennae , he ... trying to look past me into our apartment , ' you wouldn't have so much trouble with vermins . ' I pretended not to ...
Contents
SARAH ORNE JEWETT Marthas Lady 1897 I | 1 |
RENÉE VIVIEN Prince Charming 1904 translated | 20 |
The Wise Sappho c 191618 | 26 |
Copyright | |
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