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by Sarah Toshiko Hasu
2010
 We were very kindly sent this wonderful magical book by the author Sarah. Having just finished reading it I feel conscious that I need to do the book justice through my review. Our site is all about the positive side of being gay. To be honest I have been so lucky that I had forgotten how it felt when I was younger and struggled with my sexuality, that it was such a shameful thing and that those closest didn’t know me, the feeling of deceit. This book focuses on a fifteen year old girl called Megume. It is written in her voice. You meet her as she is running through a forest, the book is as though she is within a dream. Te situations she finds herself in are analogies of her thoughts and her situation. It is a very dark book, she is in a very dark place. Sarah talks of friends who she has lost in her life who didn’t make it out of the nightmare that they found themselves in. There is a brilliantly informative interview with Sarah in Curve magazine, she so eloquently describes the thoughts we have as gay individuals. I remember so well thinking I would lose my family and friends if they knew who I really was. ‘I have many loving, warm people in my life who can’t fathom how people could be so worried that everyone who’s always loved them would stop loving them because of who they are. But when you’re realizing that about yourself and your identity and you’re getting ready to come out, even if you think you know things about yourself, your family and your friends, you’re always scared that it would be different when it comes to you. You have to steel yourself against risking losing everything just to have your truth and its frightening. And sometimes it goes really well and everyone still loves you and sometimes it goes horribly wrong.’ Sarah has written this book as a light at the end of the tunnel for all those in the dark who are terrified of what their future holds. There is a wonderful part in the book where she meets Kat and all her woes become clear to her. This is a very powerful book, a book that has reminded me of my journey and made me realise if I needed to, how lucky I am to be me and loved by those about me - no matter who I am! I would say that if you know of people who you believe are struggling, give them a copy of this book, show them that there is a way out of the deep dark wood. Thank you so much Sarah for sending me this magical book… I read it yesterday as I was travelling in London and was so lost within its pages that I almost missed my stop on the tube. I definitely recommend this book.
 When I came out years ago I read a lot of lesbian short stories hoping, as I’m sure many of us do, to find characters and plots I could relate to so that I’d feel less alone. I hadn’t read any lesbian anthologies for a while so I was thrilled to be asked to write a review of ‘Best Lesbian Romance 2012’ and ‘Best Lesbian Erotica 2012’ - and I wasn’t disappointed by either.
‘Best Lesbian Romance 2012’, which is edited by the superb Radclyffe, comprises 17 stories featuring all types of women who find love - and often lust - in a myriad of circumstances. In fiction more often than in reality, the object of the protagonist’s desire feels the same way and naturally one thing leads to another...
There is something in these stories that will connect with every reader; glimpsing the woman of our dreams in a restaurant, in the prosaic setting of the café we pop into every day, harbouring feelings for a friend but never daring to disclose them or the pain of seeing an ex with her new girlfriend.
With only a few pages to draw you in, the characters don’t have long to make their mark yet I did feel myself connecting with them in nearly every story. My favourite tale was ‘Blazing June’ by JL Merrow. The writer has such a natural voice I was totally absorbed by the end of the first page, I felt like I was listening to someone tell me the story rather than reading a book and I genuinely cared about the characters.
Each of the romances shows how different we all are. We may come in many shapes and sizes with all manner of neuroses and desires but perhaps we are all joined by one thing, that we want to meet the woman of our dreams. In these pages you can experience that feeling over and over again as it happens to a host of superb characters.
Reviewed by Sally Mayor of Word|Nerd
2012
I thought the romance stories were pretty racey until I started reading ‘Best Lesbian Erotica 2012’! Erotica is not a genre I am familiar with. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no prude, but as I recall my Mum (rather inappropirately) saying, “I prefer the real thing”! Now, having read these 22 tales of sapphic sassiness, edited by Kathleen Warnock ably assisted by Sinclair Sexsmith, I know that I enjoy the written version too.
As Kathleen explains, the book is chronological, beginning with two schoolgirls who are just discovering their sexual desires. One feels, “like God has filled me full of warm honey”, while her friend and the object of her lust doesn’t believe God has got anything to do with it, declaring that her friend’s feelings are, “the Devil, temptation... certainly not God”. To me, this accurately reflects the different ways many of us react to our own sexual awakening, and the sometimes conflicting feelings we have.
The final story is the tale of two women in their sixties discovering sex toys for the first time and so the anthology shows us sexuality - and a lot of sex - throughout life, as well as how we will still laugh at sex toys in later years.
While each story highlights the diversity of our common sexuality and celebrates the many ways in which we delight in giving and receiving pleasure, there is something here for all tastes. Whether it’s BDSM, uniforms or straightforward good sex you like to read about, I think you’ll enjoy this book.
Reviewed by Sally Mayor of Word|Nerd
  I was sent an advanced copy of this book to review and I’m so glad I got the opportunity to do so.
The book starts with the breakdown of a relationship. Evie and Kate have been living together as a couple for about five years and all of a sudden they break up. Looking back on their time Evie can see that it had it flaws but this still didn’t prepare her for the inevidatable.
Kate had been supporting one of their other friends who had equally just gone through a breakup and the time spent together had drawn them into something new.
Evie works in PR but her love and passion is singing, so her nights are spent jobbing at clubs to promote her songs.
Anyway this book is all about the journey you have to go through to come out the other side. Evie takes that journey making some unusual connections along the way and at times doubting what she has always thought she was…. gay.
The ex as exes do so well, if they are the ones to break your heart, does string her along a bit which makes it all that much more difficult for Evie to move on.
I thoroughly enjoyed finding out how Evie’s life would pan out and it wasn’t right until the end that you do, so you’re kept in suspense for the whole read.
Definitely would recommend it and in fact my partner is just about to start reading it now that I have finished.
Loved it!
  You know how sometimes you just look at a book and you know instinctively it is going to be a good one? well I thought this the moment Lilac Mines popped through the front door for us to review.
It is set in two time spans, you meet Felix who resides in 2002 and her Aunt Anna Lisa who you read about in the mid 60's to late 70's. Felix is coming to terms with being dumped by her girlfriend and being assaulted in LA, her mother sends her to live with her Aunt who is also a lesbian and who ran away from home in the mid 60's, so afraid to be who she really was with her family.
Into this equation you get to learn about the ghosts of the town Lilac Mines, in the late 80's. A girl of that name simply vanished, the town fell apart after her disappearance and many stories sprung up about her and what could have happened. Felix loses herself in the mystery, she finds her Aunt unresponsive so makes her own entertainment elsewhere.
As the book progresses the story of the aunt and the niece become ever more entwined.
I throughly enjoyed the book, I really got to know the characters and felt for them. Do we take for granted how easy it is to be a lesbian in this day and age and what all those before us did for the cause. The mystery is Lilac Mines kept me guessing as well.. there were so many layers to this story it kept me guessing until the end.
And as if that wasn't enough there are also a couple of mentions of my favourite band in there as well - 'The Beach Boys'.
Thanks very much Cheryl for a brilliant book! Cheryl will be our 'celeb of the month'
  We stumbled upon this book in Foyles whilst waiting for a Brian Wilson concert to whisk us away to California, We had been very remise and had not heard of the book, but Liz being a huge fan of Tin Tin was intrigued by this lesbian cartoon book. We were very kindly sent the full version to review here.
The book is a composit of Alison Bechdel's cartoon strip ‘Dykes To Watch Out For’. It takes you from the early 90s through to 2008, which funnily enough is the exact same time span of my gay life (well of course I’m still living it J ). It was great to re-live the times in which I too came out and lived my life as a lesbian.
The illustrations are brilliant, hillarious and emotive, it’s a gorgeous book to lose yourself in. There is a great introduction telling us how it all started, came about and also how Alison feels about the reaction to her work.
The book focusses on the life and loves of a group of friends living in America. The protagonist is called Mo and the constant theme of the book is Mo's difficulties in having a relationship and then when she does have one, how she copes with it. All the usual issues of being a lesbian are discussed, parents and their reactions, children - should lesbians indeed have them etc. The book is great for its commentary on America during those years. Alison manages to intertwine the real and the imaginary really well. It’s a brilliant book, one of which I know I will dip in and out of it for years to come. I'm so pleased we stumbled upon it and can now share it with you guys!
Check out Alison's great site here
Beggar of Love
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, NY 12185
USA
2009
J. E. Knowles is the author of Arusha, a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Her second novel will be published in 2012. She may be contacted via her Web site, jeknowles.com.
 The highest recommendation I can give Lee Lynch’s writing is that you will not mistake it for anyone else’s. Her voice and imagination are uniquely her own. Lynch has been out and proudly writing about it for longer than many of us have been alive. In her new novel, Beggar of Love, she creates a protagonist, Jefferson (known by her surname), so fully realised that the story seems to distill the last several decades of lesbian life.
Since The Swashbuckler (1985), Lynch has unapologetically written novels about and for dykes. As Nicola Griffith has said about ‘lesbian fiction’ (asknicola.blogspot.com), it would not be a compliment to suggest that Lynch transcends the genre; good books are not a genre. A good book can make the reader laugh, feel desire, and think, sometimes all in the same scene. Lynch does this with pithy sentences that can convey an entire relationship and more: ‘The occasional harshness that remained in Ginger’s accent grated on Jefferson, who’d been raised to sound like a class, not a location’ (p. 88). Here she describes a phenomenon this reader never had words for, but recognised instantly. Lynch is that rare US writer who knows that class—not race or sexuality—is the great American taboo. Her fiction can be relied upon to show us characters not only of different classes, pace American denial, but of different ages and racial/ethnic backgrounds—and she introduces them effortlessly, because her dyke world cuts across all those lines. This diversity is one of the things lesbian and feminist literature was supposed to deliver. Lynch delivers.
Another thing Beggar of Love does, that novelists rarely achieve, is to keep the outcome for the hero in genuine doubt until the very last page. The reader comes to know Jefferson in all her charming, sometimes infuriating butch complexity, and Lynch honors her readers’ intelligence by giving Jefferson many dimensions. In bringing these fully to life, she also does justice to her character.
Nor is gender diversity absent from Beggar of Love. Like much of Lynch’s work it celebrates butch and femme, especially butch sexuality, as more than fixed references to one point in time. There are few male characters, although there are hints that Jefferson’s father, Jarvy, sought the company of other men while married to Jefferson’s mother. Jefferson seems to have inherited her father’s roving eye, as surely as his alcoholism. Jarvy’s story brings to mind the father’s tragedy in Fun Home, Alison Bechdel’s graphic (in the sense of drawn media) memoir.
What takes the reader through the years and pages of this novel is, finally, the writing. ‘She'd been in love before, of course. Angela was still like ivy entwining her heart that some day would leave impressions, fossils of love, but her sensations now moved inside those ivied walls’ (p. 85). Jefferson’s feelings, if not her experiences, are universal. ‘Now that she knew she was capable of betrayal and inflicting pain in order to have what she wanted, she suspected everyone else in the world was capable of the same thing. She'd discovered that she couldn't trust herself to honor what she'd thought she'd believed in. How could she now trust anyone else?’ (pp. 101-02)
Lee Lynch finds the words.
I had not read any of Eileen's work before but was so impressed with this book i'm sure I will in the future! She has a wonderful eye for detail, you get under her skin in this book, it's a biography of sorts but the kind of biography I love, it doesn't just take you through the day to day, it delves into the mind, the thoughts that are running through her brain as she deals with life in New York in the 70s. She lives in an apartment in New York, meets the great and good who reside there, It always amazes me how some people find their path through life, she was working in an office and realised she didn't want to spend her life sat there, so off she went and lived a life of sex, drugs and poetry in New York, at first sleeping with men but then having the feeling of falling in love with Rose, and her whole opened up. She describes their first encounter as leaving her feeling 'a sense of being not correct but aligned for the first time'. A wonderful description of finding your true path in life.
I have seen in other peoples reviews they have said they preferred the first part of the book, but actually I loved the latter pages. There are some amazing streams of consciousness to be found, I made a note of some of the ones that particularly struck me.
'The possibility that i should keep living in this particular time in which i was born, not bleeding into all the other times, hear this footstep not that. Feel the possibility and let it leak.' p221
'The thing of great value is you. where you are, glowing and fading while you live'
The book is full of such great insight, not just into Eileen's life, but people's perspectives. I sent a link to her website to a poet friend of mine in LA and this was the wonderful response I got from him regarding her work..
"She also makes some good points and other artist like her do as well. The stories through out the world we have told slant us jade us towards a prejudice. We are slanted towards male female and anything suggesting otherwise is suppressed. We put down these stories and we all grow up with a certain prejudice that we have to overcome if we want real liberation. How can any loving presence create a universe where two people who love each other are forbidden to embrace each other to touch to fuck to do whatever they want as long as they do not hurt each other.
What kind of Divine love. What kind of God would that be and would you want anything to so with being who is all beings like that. I certainly would not but I did not start this way i grew to this and this is the dialog that is needed and an honest realization that we need real stories new stories written not out of fear but out of kindness and love." ©Stephen Kalinich
And he hasn't even read the book yet!!!!
Read it now! it will alter you in ways you had not expected!
Various Writers
2011
  A really good mix of 16 short stories about police officers and their sexual pursuits. Something for everyone with lots of woman on woman.
What I liked about the stories is that although they are all about police officers and you could assume that the stories would be similar, they aren’t. Some of the stories are pure action - erotica not hard porn and others are really love stories between two women.
Some of the women are sex machines and others a lot more sensual and sensitive. But don’t take my word on it, as your intrepetation could be different.
Well written stories and easy to read. I enjoyed the book and would recommend for anyone looking for something light, fun and well written to read.
 This book is a testament to why we need to have shops. I know it’s so much easier to buy a book with one click on Amazon but you can never replace the joy of perusing a book shop’s crammed shelves and coming across a book that you had not heard of. The cover and the testimonials sell it to you, this is what happened to me, whilst checking out the books in our fav book shop, ‘Gays The Word’ in Russell Square I came across this classic.
Yesterday I spent pretty much the whole day devouring it, almost in one sitting (I never do this). Liz was asking what we would like to do with the day and do you know I just wanted to hang out in Florence’s world, which let me tell you is a pretty interesting place to reside. Born to a chain smoking mother and very intelligent bookish English father she was off to a very interesting start. Then throw in a Grandmother, who was obsessed with gynecology and her ancestry and you have the makings of a classic. This is set in the ‘deep south’ of America, an area I know nothing of really, except what you see on the TV. Florence brought it to life, the characters are so real, you feel by the end of the book that you actually know them.
Her tale is one of being different in her world, right from the start but not really knowing why, and this isn’t just due to the fact that she becomes a lesbian. She is different in lots of ways, her father has educated her well before her years, and she is used to being with adults, so when she is thrown into kindergarten it is a hell on earth for her.
I won’t spoil the book but all I can say is, it had me gripped from the start, is hilarious in places and also, very poignant! Go out and get yourself a copy today!
The latest edition of this collection is edited by Radclyffe. I must confess this is the first one I have read but thoroughly enjoyed it. The stories really take you away from the cold winter here, to Hawaii and various hot locations in America with lots of hot women... My favourite line of the book, which made me laugh out loud, was from the story 'Panacea' by Colette Moody. ‘An arse so magical David Copperfield might climb out of it at any moment', brilliant.
I loved this book as it made me remember the first flush of love. Of meeting that one person and just knowing from the very first moment that it was so very right. It’s all here within these pages.
Radclyffe has gathered a wonderfully varied collection of stories about falling in love, all of which are wonderfully written. You feel as though you are a fly on the wall watching these wonderful encounters, as though you were a friend hearing all the juicy details.
I highly recommend this book, it would make a wonderful valentines gift! Great to read out loud to the one you love.....
Contributions from Radclyffe writing as L.L. Raand, Sacchi Green, Kathleen Warnock, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Catherine Lundoff, Clifford Henderson, Theda Hudson, Rebecca S. Buck, Anna Meadows, Colette Moody, Andrea Dale, Merina Canyon, Jamie Schaffner, Charlotte Dare, Cheyenne Blue, Elaine Burnes, and Miel Rose. (Cleis)
 This year's issue was edited by Lea DeLaria; Lea is a musician and comedian. The book offered a lot of variety in its story telling, It is very interesting to read what turns people on... Some of it of course I found a little bizarre but I was pleasantly surprised that lots of the stories were actually rather lovely and romantic. They also included some fantastically well written sex scenes. The imagination of these ladies is astounding, you get stories of lust involving tram drivers (I wish the tram drivers I knew looked like the one in this story). A hilarious notion of a 'tree hugger' undecided whether to cling to her tree or instead get it on with the ranger sent to save her. I won't spoil it by telling you which won. There is a lot of sex in public, a popular fantasy it would seem. It's a great little book, good fun and very sexy.
{extravote 25}
The winner of our competition:
 A short story about a group of friends who spend 8 weeks together at a summer camp for gifted youngsters. Nicola Lancaster meets and makes friends with Katrina the manic computer chick, Isaac the nice-guy-despite-himself, Kevin the inarticulate composer…. and Battle Hall Davies. Each of them studying a different subject but drawn to spend the summer together.
Each of them have their own story and/or hang ups but together they spend their time developing a strong friendship. Up until this summer Nicola has always been attracted to guys but this all changes when she meets Battle a beautiful blond – their relationship goes beyond just friendship and for the first time Nicola is attracted to the same sex.
As summer camp progresses so does their relationship. With Nicola over analysing everything and everyone their relationship does become strained including a period of confusion and doubt.
Although this is quite a short story I enjoyed reading it because of its naievety. There was nothing heavy or difficult to follow, it just flowed and was a bit of pure escapism.
Written by Lisa Martin
{extravote 24}
 Yes another great read by Gerri Hill. Just in case you haven't realised I really enjoy reading Gerri Hill books as I find them easy to read and love the stories that she tells.
Marty Edwards is a reporter who uncovers missing evidence, finds witnesses and searches through realms of notes to help solve long forgotten murder cases. Unfortunately the one she chooses to report on in Brownsville has a sinister element to it that no body wants to talk about. It doesn't take long before there are two attempts on Marty's life. With Kristen Bailey of the Brownsville Police Department assigned to look after Marty. The time they spend together running for their lives whilst looking for the murderer, these two form a bond which is taken onto another level.
A thriller full of suspense, energy and excitement.
Really enjoyed the book and can't wait to start reading another.
This book is set in Kings Canyon National Park. Susan Sterling needed time and space to think and contemplate her marriage, her life, her future. Isolated from her family and friends this was the ideal place for Susan to do just that that was until Shawn Weber make an appearance.
Shawn frequently set up tent in the park with her dog and spent many hours walking around the beautiful spot.
They meet by chance out walking one day and that is the turning point for both of them. They bond and form a deep friendship which develops into more.
Shawn gives Susan the courage to face up to the changes that need to be made and that lie ahead.
What a great book. This is the follow on to Hunter’s Way. Tori and Samantha taking on a new murder case, a catholic priest who has died in a mysterious way – strangled to death and naked. As you can imagine this case threatens to be a media circus and so steps in Marissa to stop this from happening but at the sake of finding out the truth.
Tori and Sam are split up as a team and a new character is introduced, Casey.
As more people are killed the story becomes more intricate. The personalities clash and emotions run high.
If you loved Hunter’s Way you’ll love this read as well.
 I can really picture this wonderful setting for this book – the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Just the place for a romance to ignite, between two ladies. The winter months with plenty of snow falling, the burning log fire in the cabin and a glass of wine to warm you through.
Chris McKenna becomes part of the Search and Rescue team high above on the mountain range – faced with the real danger of the mountains when they turn treacherous. Jessie Stone a writer with a past that even she doesn’t know about yet.
The catalyst for their love affair is Jessie’s mother, Annie.
Loved the book as I do all of Gerri’s. Very easy to read, if a little predictable. However, I always get caught up in her novels and believe me for someone who is not a great reader that says quite a lot.
 I must confess I wasn't too sure about this book at the outset. Lizzie the protagonist has just split up with her girlfriend of nine weeks, Sally, who has left her for a chap with a fat neck. So Lizzie spends the first part of the book stalking her, using a camera and disguise and showing up in a pub she knows she frequents. Lizzie breaks into her house and with info found then sets out to stalk Sally and the man with the fat neck on holiday in Brighton.
I imaged myself in Sally's shoes and how horrendous that would be. But the genius of Karen's writing gives you great empathy for Lizzie's situation. I have never read a book that so eloquently describes the minutia of life. The way she describes feelings of how it is to be in love, waiting for that elusive text message, wondering how to reply without conveying too much need. Also the descriptions of the characters are wonderful, you get to know all the people who meet each day in the cafe that Lizzie works in - you feel as though you are opening the door and peeping into their world.
It is an incredibly well written book! Made me laugh, made me concerned, something very different to anything I had read before - EVER! Great stuff.
Karen is our celeb next month, August.
This is a book of literally two halves - one side for women and when you turn the book upside down it has stories for men. For the purpose of this review I will focus on the ladies half. The book comprises of seven short stories, all focusing on youth and the memory of how it was to deal with our sexuality when we were young and bewildered. The writers are Karen Mcleod, Stella Duffy, VG Lee, Jay Bernard, Sophia Blackwell, Helen Sandler and finally a note from a girl who has been helped by the Albert Kennedy Trust, of which some of the proceeds of this book go to.
All the stories are very different, in fact one of them is in the form of a very cool cartoon. They mostly focus on our initial realisation of our sexuality, having that first initial school girl crush and not really knowing how to deal with it. The guilt the confusion and the deceit towards the oblivious friend who doesn't realise the depth of your emotions towards her! I guess we have all been there, the sleep over that means nothing to the friend but all the world to you!
The story that I had most affinity to was 'The House Believes' by Sophia Blackwell. Just the whole timbre of the piece took me straight back to my childhood and the feelings that I had then. The line when she is about to tell her parents she is gay in which she writes 'I have five minutes of my old life left' that really struck a cord with me!
Stella Duffy's theme is the lengths we will go to in our devotion to the object of our desire. How we can be swayed into doing things we wouldn't normally do. All in all it's a diverse collection of stories, with a little something for everyone.
I remember years ago being at the lesbian book show in York. One of the writers there that year was Amanda Boulter - talking about her new book 'Around the Houses' she read from it. She mentioned how she had wanted to make it into a kind of British version of 'Tales of the City'. Well, I have FINALLY got around to reading it. I really enjoyed this book, fell in with the lives of the characters right from the start. Amanda really made me feel part of all their goings on... She has created the same kind of alternative family as those in the 'Tales' series of books, which I really liked. There is also a nod to 'Tales of the City' with some of the names she used, ie Anna and Madrigal. Amanda has used the same trick of short and sweet chapters that take you from one story to the next but as with Armistead they all convene together at the end!
I highly recommend this book, and have just ordered the follow up 'Back Around the Houses'
For those like me, who didn't know who Theodora was, she was an Empress of the Byzantine Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I. She lived in the years 500 - 28 June 548. She and her husband are both saints in the Orthodox Church, commemorated on the 14th of November. Theodora was one of, if not the most influential and powerful woman in the Byzantine Empire.
Years ago I remember hearing a great quote about books. The person said, 'How else can you carry another world around in your pocket....' never have I felt this more true than with this book.
Stella really has brought all this history to life in this book. You know how we read of these ancient people in wikipedia and it is all very interesting but really just the facts, nothing more. But with this book Stella takes the life of a person from history and embellishes it into a great novel, you get a real sense of the times she lived in, the city and the people. How they lived out their lives, even down to their feelings, which are not so different really from how we feel today.
It starts with Theodora as a child working with her father who is a bear trainer, then we follow the twists and turns of her life, which I won't go into here as I don't want to spoil the read! Suffice it to say you are taken on an astounding journey, a lovely dip into an unknown history!
I would highly recommend it!
Loved this book - real mix of a murder case and a love story.
Tori Hunter, closed, unfeeling, stand offish detective. Samantha Kennedy, married, juggling her job and a needy boyfriend. They are teamed up together to solve a nasty crime. A serial killer is on the loose and it is down to the two of them to find the killer before he strikes again.
As they spend more and more time together on the case Tori realises that she is becoming closer to Samantha and opening up to her in a way she never has before. Samantha equally starts to see Tori in a different way to how others perceive her. As the bond grows stronger both detectives have to take stock and decide what is happening and how this could affect their professional relationship.
The sex is great as always with a Gerri Hill book. Really recommend you read it and can’t wait for the next one with these two ladies – In The Name of the Father.
So my second Gerri Hill book - really enjoyed this one as well, I get the feeling that she writes from experience. The description of Hawaii was wonderful, I imagine Gerri must have been lucky enough to go there.
This book I found didn't have quite the impact of the 'Pine Curtain', it was more a conversational book but I enjoyed it all the same. The journey we took with the characters in this book was more of a thoughtful one as apposed to action narration. The focus was on what happens when you know your relationship is over but you just aren't sure you want to throw away all those years.... I imagine lots of us stay in a relationship merely to postpone the heartache involved and the twist here is in the form of a sexy lady called Drew. As with the previous book Gerri builds up the sexual tension with each page you are crying out for some action but she leaves us hanging on but it was well worth the wait!
Gerri writes a wonderful love scene that's for sure, I wonder why none of her books have been made into movies. I think it would be a smooth transition!
Loved this book not only for the story line but because I have visited Arusha and fell in love with the place and people and could really imagine Edith, the main character, during her time there.
This is the story of the complex lives of the Rignadli family. Edith and Joe, married for many years but not really living their lives to the full. Suffocated by each other but loving parents to their two children - Dana and Jeremy.
As the story unfolds so does all their lives.
Edith and Joe, both teachers, living and working in small town Tennessee with all the values and morals that go along with living in a small town. Neither truly happy with the arrangement but neither brave enough to do anything about it. Until one day everything changes!
This is about the journey Edith takes to Arusha in East Africa to really find peace and happiness in the most unexpected of places.
Great read, just kept wanting to turn to the next page to see what was going to happen. I thought the book was wonderfully written and for her first novel my hat goes off to Knowles.
Incredible story can’t wait for her to write another. Would strongly recommend reading this!
 This is the first Gerri Hill book I have read but believe me it won’t be the last. Loved it!
The book is based around two central characters, Jo and Kelly.
They meet and have mad passionate sex one hot summer night. The sex is electric, the best Jo has ever experienced. But for Jo a one night stand is not what she does, it is totally out of character for her.
This book is full of steamy sex in detail, there is laughter and tears, a real emotional journey for the characters and at one point it even left me in tears. The sexual tension between the girls will leave you guessing right up until the end.
What does Jo want, you ask yourself as the reader? Kelly has made her intentions clear!
Really enjoyed the book and for something to capture me that quickly it says quite a lot about it. Great book, very easy to read, a real page turner. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Looking forward to reading more of the Gerri Hill collection!
I really enjoyed this book. I went scouring through the internet for some lesbian fiction. I wanted something that could take me away from my world at the moment. I found this book and it was just the ticket.
Set in a small town in Texas, the book is about the paths we take in life, and how many of them are actually the result of other peoples’ decisions and notions about us. This led the main character Jacqueline on a difficult path but one that in fact led her right back to where she started. I really believed in the characters and better still wanted to hang out with them!
The book is also about soul mates, is there one person out there for everyone. I remember a good friend once said to me many years ago “What's for you won't go past you!” Through all the hard times I hung onto that notion and low and behold she was right!
I was sad to finish the book and lose that world. I intend to read a lot more of Ms Hill in the future.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would strongly recommend it. Beautifully written by Stella Duffy.
The story is based around three central characters – Yana Ivanova, a Russian born, Hollywood legend; Jimmy, a sitcom star and Yana’s British born PA, Penny, all living under the same roof. Then murder is committed.
This is a murder mystery with a twist. It takes you through a number of emotions – laughter, sadness to name but a few. It is cleverly entwine with the lies people tell each other within relationships but as the story moves forward the truth is told from which the main characters were hiding behind.
A very interesting read. From the moment I started this book I was hooked, I wanted to know where the lives of these people would lead them.
Elena describes the characters with wonderful detail, you can feel yourself really getting to know them. Her writing allows you to draw on every emotion including empathy for the characters situations. I like the way she put their thoughts in italics, as in life the hidden conversation going on behind the ‘heard’ version… how we say things and most of the time mean the complete opposite, the unsaid word.
Throw in the heritage of the Spanish history that is still haunting the characters to this day, of which I had no prior knowledge and you have both a fascinating learning experience as well as a cracking good yarn.
It has left me with lots of thoughts. I think the sign of a good book is that it is not lost from your thoughts the moment you close the last page, but lingers there for any number of reasons and affects the way you see your day to day life. I will certainly be giving it more thought.
Thanks Elena, I look forward to your next book!
I picked this book up in ‘Gays The Word’ bookshop; it was a choice between this book and a huge biography also on Patricia Highsmith. When the movie 'The Talented Mr Ripley' came out I was unaware of her or any of her work. I didn't like the film as it portrayed a gay man as a murderer. I thought it was just a typical portrayal of gay people as evil characters so took an instant dislike to the film. It wasn't until years later that I realised the author was in fact herself gay, when I read her book 'Carol'. So I decided this book would give me a better insight into her character.
I enjoyed the book; I felt Marijane Meaker told it as it was - a two year relationship with a temperamental alcoholic author. I got involved in the characters; I wanted the relationship to survive even though I knew it hadn't.
It starts in a lesbian bar in New York where the two meet and then takes you on the journey that was their two year relationship, the gay friends they had and the closet cases they knew.
I thought the life they made for themselves in Pennsylvania sounded so idyllic when they first moved into the house, these two women moving in together at a time when that wasn't really done, very big and bold. I loved the imagery of them sitting on their front step awaiting the arrival of the removal men, considering their future together. So I was sad when the relationship suddenly ended.
At the end of the book you get to see the woman Patricia Highsmith had become, sadly not a very attractive image. I enjoyed the book; it gives you real insight into what it was like to be a lesbian in New York City in the early 60's.
I think I would have thoroughly enjoyed the world during that era.
Carol
Patricia Highsmith
1952
Highsmith’s second novel and one that I think all lesbians will enjoy. (also published as 'The Price of Salt'
The story starts with Therese working in the dolls section of a department store during the Christmas period. One day prior to Christmas a woman walks in to purchase a doll for her daughter as a present. Therese is transfixed by the woman’s beauty and elegance. The feelings this woman stirs up in Therese are new and exciting. As the novel progresses we find out the woman is called ‘Carol’. The pair become friends so Carol asks Therese to accompany her on a road trip which explores their feelings towards each other further.
I found the book absolutely compelling and I didn’t want to put it down. I was intrigued as to whether they would have a huge love affair or not. I thought the book was wonderfully written, full of passion and suspense. I would definitely read the book again.
Sarah Waters’ latest book is set a little closer to our present time than her last few; it is set in the countryside of Warwickshire. It is a spooky tale of a doctor who grapples with his failings in life and is reminded of his youth when he is called out to the big house to look at a patient. This perfectly innocent occurrence ends up altering the course of his life. He gets drawn into the world of the occupants and the strange goings on.
It is a cracking book and as ever Sarah is very descriptive, you get completely drawn into the book as always and find yourself emphasising with the characters!
I was bewildered as to whom to believe but all in all a great read. I look forward to the next one.
I got given it for my birthday and just couldn’t put it down, luckily the days were filled with sunshine, so I was able to read this spooky novel in the bright sunlight. I’m not sure how my dreams would have fared had I read it at night.
Each year in York there is a lesbian's book get together. I have been lucky enough to go to this a couple of times and Sarah Waters is usually there. This particular year she was just finishing her latest book 'The Night Watch', we headed off to the largest room within the walls of the York racecourse building, the place was packed and there she sat, looking rather nervous when faced with all these lesbian fans all in once place and she read from the first chapter of the book. We were all spell bound and you could hear a penny drop!
I feel so privileged to see such a wonderful writer at the height of her powers share her work with us on such an intimate level! I couldn't wait for the release of the book and it certainly did not disappoint. Set during the Second World War, it starts at the end and works its way back, which was a clever technique. It's funny but when you talk to people who were there during the great wars, they always seem to look back fondly on this time and this book goes some way into explaining that life was lived as if each day were your last, so the moment was so alive. This book focuses on a group of women and their lives during the war and how life just didn't really live up to that time.
A great read as ever.
2005
I must admit I found this the hardest of Sarah Waters' books to read, it's very dark as you can imagine from the content, set within the walls of a prison in the 1800's. A bored rich girl is spending some time visiting the inmates when she sets eyes on a girl that will once again alter her destiny. The plot is woven so carefully, you get most bewildered as to how Ms Waters is going to explain it all.
A disturbing tale of longing, deceit but as always a very clever story!
This is my favourite Sarah Waters' novel. I lost myself within its pages during the long hot summer of 2003 and just could not put it down.
I got the opportunity for Sarah to kindly sign my book and she wrote that she hoped I would enjoy it. Well, I certainly did!
Set in 1842 in the dark gloomy streets of London. A confident man persuades young Sue to help him get some money from the rich family but all does not go according to plan. The book is in three parts and keeps you guessing until the very end...
It never ceases to amaze me how Sarah Waters' mind works and weaves such a wondrous web for us to untangle!
What can be said of this back that hasn't already been written or spoken of before? It is so firmly established in the country Zeitgeist that I can only say how much I enjoyed it and how great it was to have such an eloquent timeless novel written primarily for and about lesbians.
Prior to this, books were always on some hidden shelf in the book shops, if indeed there were any at all. All of a sudden this novel takes everyone by storm.
The television adaptation is the talk of the nation and is very well done by the chap that usually gives us Jane Austin. Well done Sarah for breaking all the boundaries.
If you haven't read it... what on earth have you been doing with your time? Go and get a copy now!
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