The Penguin Book of Lesbian Short StoriesAnd 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 210
After dinner I asked if she would mind if I took a bath . Since I had started working at age thirteen , I had a need to break the work day from my own time by taking a bath . The hot water marked the border between my world and theirs .
After dinner I asked if she would mind if I took a bath . Since I had started working at age thirteen , I had a need to break the work day from my own time by taking a bath . The hot water marked the border between my world and theirs .
Page 231
No one asked you what it was for or where it came from . We remembered that day for ever . The next day we told all the other houses about it . Some people from other houses said things to you , like they'd heard about it and wished ...
No one asked you what it was for or where it came from . We remembered that day for ever . The next day we told all the other houses about it . Some people from other houses said things to you , like they'd heard about it and wished ...
Page 385
In an attempt to establish common ground , we asked them at what season they mated with and then devoured their males . Imagine our embarrassment when we discovered that those individuals with whom we were conversing were males !
In an attempt to establish common ground , we asked them at what season they mated with and then devoured their males . Imagine our embarrassment when we discovered that those individuals with whom we were conversing were males !
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The Penguin book of lesbian short stories
User Review - Not Available - Book VerdictIn the last half-dozen years, collections of lesbian plays, coming-out stories, mysteries, and poetry have been published, mostly by small presses. Now, The Penguin Book of Lesbian Short Stories ... Read full review
Contents
ISAK DINESEN The Blank Page 1957 117 | 1 |
SARAH ORNE JEWETT Marthas Lady 1897 I | 20 |
The Wise Sappho c 191618 | 26 |
Copyright | |
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