fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2868 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2868 ⌋

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Does anyone know lesbian novels (or novels with a heavily featuring lesbian/lesbian couple) set in the 1920s - WWWI era?

Or, what novels would you describe as important or influental works depicting lesbians? I'm thinking about stuff like Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness, but I don't actually know that many influental literary works on lesbians as we focused more on gay men in literature at university.

Or, just rec me your favourite novels featuring lesbians, please?

Fried Green Tomatoes in the Whistle Stop Cafe. Flagg is a very talented author - lots of awesome descriptions ~~of food~~.

I'm still kind of confused about this work. I'm notoriously bad at noticing subtextually developing romance, and this book never stated outright that the protagonists were, in fact, romantically involved, but somehow I almost immediately started viewing them as a couple.

I think it was this moment when one of them was scared for the other's life. It happened really early in their acquaintance, and it struck me as unnatural that a person would develop such a strong feeling of friendship in such a short length of time. So I decided it must be one of those instant romantic crushes. (it then develops into an actual relationship, though).

Sounds interesting! I just had a look at wikipedia to see when the novel was written and where it's set, and it seems you're right on with the fact that, though never stated, the protagonists were, in fact, a couple.

Thanks for the rec!

They're definitely a couple. The book was way more explicit about it than the movie. It's been a while since I read it, but there was one part where Ruth is afraid that her husband will "feel her love for Idgie", and there were a number of mentions of Idgie sleeping with the woman at the bar (who wasn't even in the movie, iirc). Also, Fannie Flagg dated Rita Mae Brown.

eta: I just wanted to clarify I'm not arguing with you, I'm just saying your instincts were correct :)

Edited 2014-11-09 22:25 (UTC)

Oh, I see! Yes, that may have contributed to it. I'm glad, anyway. It's an awesome book and it's good to know that it really wasn't all just vague hints and unrealized potential.

I read the description of the movie and it pissed me off. One of these cases where the adaptation is less progressive than the original, apparently.

I grew up with the movie and I love it a lot and I think in some aspects, the story is actually stronger than in the book. If they'd had the guts to keep the relationship, it would have been perfect. The only thing that always bugged me about the movie was the way they introduced Ruth as being older than Idgie and in love with her brother, which made a lot more sense when I found out they did it to hide the gay. As awful as that is, it's still a great movie and there are a lot of intimate moments between Idgie and Ruth. I kind of want to go watch it now, actually.

Sylvia Townsend Warner's Summer Will Show was written in 1936 and is set against the background of the French Revolution of 1848. A protagonist in a canon lesbian relationship, plus revolutionaries; you can't really go wrong.

A protagonist in a canon lesbian relationship, plus revolutionaries; you can't really go wrong.

Oh, yes, sounds really good! Thanks!

I just read Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing by May Sarton the other day and I thought it was excellent. It's about a writer in her seventies who, through an interview at her home, relives her past and remembers all the women who inspired each of her books, and it encompasses those timeframes. Meanwhile she has become the mentor of a young gay man.

Great picture for this thread, by the way.

I love perspectives on different times, so this sounds great. I'll definitely check it out!

♥ ! I hope you like it.

I've liked Sarah Waters' books, more than Rita Mae Brown's people-only books, personally. They're not from your period, but I found Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet beautifully written.

Someone else recced me her latest book, The Paying Guests, which plays in the 1920s.

Thanks for the recs for Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet!

Welcome, hon. Hope you find a few things you like. ^^

Oh I really loved Fingersmith. I ought to get around to reading her other books.

The Price Of Salt is set in the 1950s, which is a little after your requested era, but it's a fucking amazing book that remains a seminal landmark in lesbian fiction.

And if you like that, Highsmith by Marjane Meaker is an incredible memoir about Meaker's affair with Highsmith during that era.

The Color Purple is set in the 1930s, and IIRC, features a lesbian couple. There was a big deal made out of the women wearing pants (although that then turned into a business venture).

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