Summer vacation is one of the best times during the year to read a book. On the beach, in a plane or car, a good book can be that special indulgence that you never seem to find time for.
We’ve come a long way since 1928 when the lesbian book Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall was banned for obscenity, helping make it an international bestseller. The 1950s saw the beginning of the sensational pulp novel era when Fawcett began publishing its Gold Medal series of women-loving-women books, many of which attracted both straight and gay and male and female readers.
Lesbian pulp books, many written under pseudonyms, were mass-market paperbacks that featured sexy covers to help lesbians find them. With sex as the theme, although tame by today’s standards, the books gave lesbians a sense of inclusion, despite the fact that the book’s characters often suffered less than happy endings – suicide, alcoholism, going straight -- as penance for their illicit actions, helping them avoid being labeled as porn. By the mid 60s, the pulps began disappearing as attitudes toward sex and sexuality changed.
Today things are very different. There are many books for, by and about lesbians and they are no longer in the closet. Several publishers handle only lesbian material and you can even find lesbian content at larger booksellers, including Amazon and Barnes and Nobel.
Here are some books (in alpha order) to take on your summer trip or just curl up with on the sofa … beware… for a few of these reads you may want to be in a quiet place… alone!
Blind Faith – Diane and Jake Anderson-Minshall, Bold Stroke Books – Mystery. The third novel in their Blind Eye Detective Agency Series, Blind Faith was nominated for a 2009 Lambda award. The book pits their Blind private investigator Yoshi Yakamota against an ex-gay, youth program. Diane’s first solo novel, the erotic Punishment with Kisses, also hit the shelves this summer and explores family dynamics set against lesbian lovers and murder.
Commencement, J. Courtney Sullivan, Knopf. Fiction. Commencement tells the story of four women who meet at Smith College in the late 90s and develop a deep bond that is tested after graduation. It includes a lesbian storyline, activism and marriage.
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In Deep Water 2: Cruising the Strip, Radclyffe and Karin Kallmaker, Bold Strokes Books. Erotica – 2009 Lambda Award. Set in Las Vegas, this collaboration by two award-winning and prolific writers, combines lesbian erotica with gambling, passion and love.
I told You So,Kate Clinton, Beacon Press. Comedy. Clinton’s latest book is a compilation of columns and routines that put the spotlight on her savvy, thought provoking … and hilarious… political and lifestyle humor.
My Life with Stella Kane, Linda Morganstein, Regal Crest Enterprises.Historical romance. This book, set in 1950s Hollywood, tells the story of a lesbian actress, who ends up in a trio with a woman and a man and investigates compromises that relate to life today.
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Passing for Black, Linda Villarosa, Kensington Books. Debut Fiction. Nominated for a 2009 Lambda Award, Passing for Black explores race, sexuality, family and religion, where a black magazine writer has an affair with another woman who is the nemesis of her fiancée.
Perpetual Care, Laura Beth Caldwell, Authorhouse. Paranormal. Caldwell’s debut novel, a vampire tale, tells the story of Naomi Talbot, who travels between the worlds of the living and the dead, questioning love, immortality and God, all the while searching for her lost love, Esther.
The Other Side of Paradise, Stacyann Chin, Scribner. Memoir. This is performance artist Chin’s memoir about growing up in poverty in Jamaica, raised by her grandmother, after being rejected by her mother. Chin writes candidly about her challenging beginning, about coming out as a lesbian and finding her own voice.
The Sealed Letter,Emma Donoghue, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt . Romance – 2009 Lambda award. In her sixth novel, Donoghue uses Victorian-era London as the scene against which to weave the story of two women – one married, one entrenched in the British women’s movement – whose lives mirror feminism and marriage issues of today.
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Ultimate Lesbian Erotica 2009, edited by Nicole Foster, Alyson Books. Erotic. This is the latest of 14 volumes of sexy lesbian erotica with 18 stories from some of the most popular lesbian erotica writers.
Warming Trend,Karin Kallmaker, Bella Books. Romance. This book is the latest in a long list of lesbian romance novels by the Golden Crown and Lambda award winning author. Warming Trend is set in the ice fields of Alaska and is the story of Ani, who runs from her troubles and ends up in Key West, but is haunted by her passion for the ice fields … and a woman.
Whacked,Josie Gordon, Bella Books. Mystery. Winner of the Lesbian Mystery category at this year’s Lambda awards, Whacked marks the first of Gordon’s Lonnie Squires mystery series. It explores the secrets of a conservative small town and the murder of a journalist who threatened to expose the town’s hypocrisy.
