Lesbian Literature – Ten Books Worth a Peep!

Everyone is their own kind of lesbian. To think there's a certain way to dress or present yourself in the world is just one more stereotype we have to fit into.

Portia De Rossi

Whether by author or subject matter, Lesbian literature has been around a long time, there are some amazing novels and writers that until recently, haven’t been able to stand in the spotlight because of societies ridiculous taboos – Women fall in love with other women, they have fabulous sex and wonderful lives together, get over yourselves!

Here’s a few examples that are well worth closer scrutiny. Full disclosure, I’ve not read them all, some I’ve read rave reviews on and deserve to be on the list!

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

“Nevada is the darkly comedic story of Maria Griffiths, a young trans woman living in New York City and trying to stay true to her punk values while working retail. When she finds out her girlfriend has lied to her, the world she thought she’d carefully built for herself begins to unravel, and Maria sets out on a journey that will most certainly change her forever.” From Goodreads.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a “baby farmer,” who raised her with unusual tenderness as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—Fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a coming-of-age teen novel published in 2012. The novel’s protagonist is Cameron Post, a 12-year-old Montana girl who is discovering her own homosexuality. After her parents die in a car crash, she lives with her conservative aunt and her grandmother.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

Possibly one you’ve heard of, even if it’s just because of the film starring Cathy Bates and Jessica Tandy. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a 1987 novel that weaves together the past and the present through the blossoming friendship between Evelyn Couch, a middle-aged housewife, and Ninny Threadgoode, an elderly woman who lives in a nursing home. The book, made into a 1991 film, explores themes of family, aging, Lesbianism, and the dehumanizing effects of racism. It’s a piece of Lesbian literature that will make you both laugh and cry.

The Hours by Michael Cunningham

In 1920s London, Virginia Woolf is fighting against her rebellious spirit as she attempts to make a start on her new novel. A young wife and mother, broiling in a suburb of 1940s Los Angeles, yearns to escape and read her precious copy of Mrs Dalloway. And Clarissa Vaughan steps out of her smart Greenwich village apartment in 1990s New York to buy flowers for a party she is hosting for a dying friend.

Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States by Samantha Allen

Transgender reporter’s narrative tour through the surprisingly vibrant queer communities sprouting up in perhaps the more liberal states in the US, offering a vision of a stronger, more humane America. If you don’t feel in the mood for a full novel, this is a lovely pick me up, put me down coffee table book with some great stories!

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

Emi is a film buff and a true romantic, but her real-life relationships are a mess. She has desperately gone back to the same girl too many times to mention. But then a mysterious letter from a silver screen legend leads Emi to Ava. Ava is unlike anyone Emi has ever met. She has a tumultuous, not-so-glamorous past, and lives an unconventional life. She’s enigmatic…. She’s beautiful. And she is about to expand Emi’s understanding of family, acceptance, and true romance.

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

A true classic in every sense of the word, Mrs. Dalloway (published on 14 May 1925) is a novel that details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a fictional high-society woman in post First World War England.

Mrs. Dalloway is essentially plotless; what action there is takes place mainly in the characters’ consciousness. The novel addresses the nature of time in personal experience through multiple interwoven stories, particularly that of Clarissa as she prepares for and hosts a party.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

One of the very first books about Lesbian coming of age, I’ve been back to it several times, I love it! This is the story of Jeanette, adopted and brought up by her mother as one of God’s elect. Zealous and passionate, she seems destined for life as a missionary, but then she falls for one of her converts. At sixteen, Jeanette decides to leave the church, her home and her family, for the young woman she loves.

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

This ground-breaking book is the story of two teenage girls whose friendship blossoms into love and who, despite pressures from family and school that threaten their relationship, promise to be true to each other and their feelings. The book has been banned from many school libraries throughout the world and publicly burned in Kansas City, a real shame because this is a beautiful book with many tender moments that will make you cry and smile in equal measure!

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