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Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 44a - On the Shelf for March 2020

Saturday, March 7, 2020 - 07:00

Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 44a - On the Shelf for March 2020 - Transcript

(Originally aired 2020/03/7 - listen here)

Welcome to On the Shelf for March 2020.

No matter what’s going on in the world, the seasons turn. Here in the northern hemisphere I’m enjoying the days getting longer and spending the extra daylight madly getting my garden in order for the new season. My interest in history includes a rather practical fascination with historic cookery, and since I also love gardening, I’ve incorporated a number of less common plants and trees to support that fascination. Did you know you can grow apple and cherry varieties that have been in continuous use since before 1600? I also love growing old roses and I’m just about to enjoy the explosion of gallica roses--the kind used for millennia to make rosewater and attar of roses for perfume. There’s an extra pleasure in reading or writing historical fiction that draws in all the senses, including taste and smell.

If you love reading historical fiction, have you ever participated in re-enactment or living history activities for your favorite time periods? Does it add an extra dimension to enjoying stories if you can imagine how one moves in the clothing, what the food tastes like, or imagine the soundscape of those streets? I spent a lot of my life doing medieval and Renaissance activities, and it’s all woven in with why I love studying history: to get a glimpse of what other lives might have been like. The days are past when I had the time to participate in creating an aristocratic banquet in 15th century Burgundy, but I can sit here and enjoy a Renaissance-era marmelade recipe on my toast, made from an ancient variety of oranges growing in my own garden.

Publications on the Blog

In February, spilling into the beginning of March, the Lesbian Historic Motif Project blog featured a series of articles that revolved around Sappho in some way, though perhaps only by allusion. I start with Harriette Andreadis a “The Sapphic-Platonics of Katherine Philips” about the 17th century English poet. Then Susan Gubar’s “Sapphistries” discussing how Sappho’s work and image have been adopted and reworked over the ages. Judith Hallett’s “Sappho and her Social Context” is a bit dated, and I included a follow-up response to it by Eva Stehle Stigers. The article "Sappho and Her Sisters: Women in Ancient Greece" by Marilyn A. Katz ended up being not to the point, simply using Sappho’s name for a review of publications on women in classical Greece.

In March, I start on a sequence of publications about friendship and the overlap it has with relationships that either are--or are perceived as--romantic or erotic. This kicks off with Alan Bray’s The Friend, which primarily concerns male friendships, but takes a deep look at relationships that use the forms and language of romantic love. Next is Alexandra Verini’s article "Medieval Models of Female Friendship in Cristine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies and Margery Kempe's The Book of Margery Kempe". Two very different women show some intriguing similarities in how they depict female friendships. The 18th and 19th centuries are a hotbed of female friendship themes, drawing on a number of different models for how those friendships were imagined. Carol Lasser’s article "'Let Us Be Sisters Forever': The Sororal Model of Nineteenth-Century Female Friendship" looks at friendship envisioned as a familial bond, or even made familial by means of marriage to a close relative. Lisa Moore, in "'Something More Tender Still than Friendship': Romantic Friendship in Early-Nineteenth-Century England,” analyzes various understandings of romantic friendship. The friendship series of blogs will continue on into April, but we’ll leave it there for now.

Book Shopping!

There hasn’t been any book shopping this month for the Lesbian Historic Motif Project, but I did pick up a copy of Brian Copenhaver’s Magic in Western Culture: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment which goes onto my shelf of deep background research for my historic fantasy series.

Author Guest

This month’s interview guest will be Catherine Lundoff, who was my very first author guest back when I expanded to a weekly schedule. This time, she’s returning to talk about her publishing house, Queen of Swords Press, and all the joys and tribulations of tackling the business side of publishing. I’ve been hoping to do a series of interviews with publishers of f/f historical fiction. To the best of my knowledge, there is no publisher who focuses specifically on f/f historicals, but it would be interesting to hear from a variety of sources about how that topic fits into all types of genre publishing.

Essay

For this month’s essay, I plan a fairly brief biographical sketch of a woman in 13th century Italy who got in a bit of a legal squabble over her sex life with women. We know nothing about Bertolina Guercia except what ended up in some court records, but those provide a glimpse of a life that may be rather different from what one might imagine in that time and place.

Recent Lesbian Historical Fiction

How about new and forthcoming books? The February books that I haven’t previously mentioned are fairly wide-ranging in setting. First up is a book--or rather a collected set of books--that would have fit into my episode on Viking-inspired fiction, though like most of the books in that episode it falls more on the fantasy side than the historical. This is Tooth and Blade: Collected edition (parts 1-3) self-published by Julian Barr

Two worlds. One destiny. Dóta has dwelled sixteen years among the trolls. She knows nothing but the darkness of her family’s cave. Her mother says humans are beasts who would slay them all. Yet the gods of Asgard whisper in the night: Dóta is a child of men, a monster unto monsters. To discover her human side, Dóta must take up her bone knife and step into the light above. Secrets await her in the human realm—beauty, terror, the love of a princess. Soon Dóta must choose between her clan and humankind, or both worlds will be devoured in fire and war. A monster sheds no tears. Norse mythology meets historical fantasy in TOOTH AND BLADE. Step into a realm of haunted meres, iron and magic.

This next book is book three in a series, but doesn’t appear to share characters or a setting with the earlier books, and is the only one that fits into the broad category of lesbian-relevant fiction, stipulating that one of the characters is identified as non-binary, though assigned as female by society. The book is The Flowers of Time (Lost in Time Book 3) by A.J. Lester from JMS Books.

Jones is determined to find out what caused the unexpected death of her father whilst they were exploring ancient ruins in the Himalayas. Along with a stack of books and coded journals, he’s left her with the promise she’ll travel back to England for the first time since childhood and try being the lady she’s never been. Edie and her brother are leaving soon on a journey to the Himalayas to document and collect plants for the new Kew Gardens when she befriends Miss Jones in London. She’s never left England before and is delighted to learn the lady will be returning to the mountains she calls home at the same time they are planning their travels. When they meet again in Srinagar, Edie is surprised to find that, out here, the Miss Jones of the London salons is “just Jones” the explorer, clad in breeches and boots and unconcerned with the proprieties Edie has been brought up to respect. The non-binary explorer and the determined botanist make the long journey over the high mountain passes to Little Tibet, collecting flowers and exploring ruins on the way. Will Jones discover the root of the mysterious deaths of her parents? Will she confide in Edie and allow her to help in the quest? The trip is fraught with dangers for both of them, not least those of the heart.

The title of the next book is self-explanatory -- Red Kate: a tale of lesbian piracy self-published by Sarah Tighe-Ford.

A tale of lesbian piracy set at the height of the ‘Golden Age’ of piracy in the heart of the Caribbean. In a world of piracy, even trust can be stolen… but can it be reclaimed? Navigating the deadly seas of the Caribbean, Captain ‘Red’ Kate’s pirate life should grant her all the freedom she desires: no rules, no restrictions, no consequences. Yet betrayal and a chance encounter leave her at the mercy of two women: Morgan, her bold but unreliable lover, and Will, a quicksilver former thief who appears from nowhere to join her crew. We all have to choose which life to live.

The first of the March books is set in the 18th century, but the rest skew a bit more recent in setting.

Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn from Zephys describes itself as:

The first in a dazzling, commercial, historical adventure series set in the extravagant and deadly world of the French Revolution. A whirlwind of action, science and magic reveals, with a diverse cast of fearless heroines, a band of rebels like no other. Camille, a revolutionary's daughter, leads a band of outcasts – a runaway girl, a deserter, an aristocrat in hiding. As the Battalion des Mortes they cheat death, saving those about to meet a bloody end at the blade of Madame La Guillotine. But their latest rescue is not what she seems. The girl's no aristocrat, but her dark and disturbing powers means both the Royalists and the Revolutionaries want her. But who and what is she? In a fast and furious story full of the glamour and excesses, intrigue and deception of these dangerous days, no one can be trusted, everyone is to be feared. As Camille learns the truth, she's forced to choose between loyalty to those she loves and the future.

This next book might be better thought of as a fictionalized biography, because it’s about two real and fascinating women. Never Anyone But You: A Novel by Rupert Thomson from Other Press.

In the years preceding World War I, two young women meet, by chance, in a provincial town in France. Suzanne Malherbe, a shy seventeen-year-old with a talent for drawing, is completely entranced by the brilliant but troubled Lucie Schwob, who comes from a family of wealthy Jewish intellectuals. They embark on a clandestine love affair, terrified they will be discovered, but then, in an astonishing twist of fate, the mother of one marries the father of the other. As “sisters” they are finally free of suspicion, and, hungry for a more stimulating milieu, they move to Paris at a moment when art, literature, and politics blend in an explosive cocktail.  Having reinvented themselves as Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, they move in the most glamorous social circles--meeting everyone from Hemingway to Dalí--and produce provocative photographs that still seem avant-garde today. In the 1930s, with the rise of anti-Semitism and fascism, they leave Paris for Jersey, and it is on this idyllic island that they confront their destiny, creating a campaign of propaganda against Hitler’s occupying forces that will put their lives in jeopardy.

Although the cover copy for this next book only hints at f/f content, I’ve received confirmation that it isn’t just teasing. Is it simple history, or perhaps something more fantastic? The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

In August 1939, thirty-year-old Hetty Cartwright arrives at Lockwood Manor to oversee a natural history museum collection, whose contents have been taken out of London for safekeeping. She is unprepared for the scale of protecting her charges from party guests, wild animals, the elements, the tyrannical Major Lockwood and Luftwaffe bombs. Most of all, she is unprepared for the beautiful and haunted Lucy Lockwood. For Lucy, who has spent much of her life cloistered at Lockwood suffering from bad nerves, the arrival of the museum brings with it new freedoms. But it also resurfaces memories of her late mother, and nightmares in which Lucy roams Lockwood hunting for something she has lost. When the animals start to move of their own accord, and exhibits go missing, they begin to wonder what exactly it is that they might need protection from. And as the disasters mount up, it is not only Hetty’s future employment that is in danger, but her own sanity too. There’s something, or someone, in the house. Someone stalking her through its darkened corridors…

Next we have a fairly straightforward historic romance: Behind the Bandstand self-published by Theresa J. Everlove

Club owner Jo falls head-over-heels for the gorgeous singer who has taken her jazz club by storm. But Delilah is leading a dangerous double life. Will Jo be able to show the world the stunning talent Delilah possess or will Delilah's complicated world keep them apart? While their romance burns bright, it might not be enough to protect them in the strict social structures of post-war Chicago.

Robin Talley has been specializing in stories that teeter just on the edge of what might be considered historical fiction. This one is Music from Another World from Inkyard Press

It’s summer 1977 and closeted lesbian Tammy Larson can’t be herself anywhere. Not at her strict Christian high school, not at her conservative Orange County church and certainly not at home, where her ultrareligious aunt relentlessly organizes antigay political campaigns. Tammy’s only outlet is writing secret letters in her diary to gay civil rights activist Harvey Milk…until she’s matched with a real-life pen pal who changes everything. Sharon Hawkins bonds with Tammy over punk music and carefully shared secrets, and soon their letters become the one place she can be honest. The rest of her life in San Francisco is full of lies. The kind she tells for others—like helping her gay brother hide the truth from their mom—and the kind she tells herself. But as antigay fervor in America reaches a frightening new pitch, Sharon and Tammy must rely on their long-distance friendship to discover their deeply personal truths, what they’ll stand for…and who they’ll rise against.

I dithered a bit about including this last book, The Mail Order Bride by R. Kent from Bold Strokes Books because the cover copy makes it clear that this is a romance between a cis woman and a trans man. So I want to emphasize that by deciding to include it, I am not claiming that this is an f/f romance, but rather--given the fuzzy and nebulous edges of the gender categories that fall within the scope of this podcast--it is a story that might appeal to readers who also enjoy gender-disguise romances. I’m not going to include this title in my cumulative database of f/f historicals, but books that fall between the popular identity categories often have a hard time finding an audience and I thought I’d give this one a hand.

Austin’s killed a man. Escaping his nefarious past and running from those who would force him to live as a woman, Austin dreams of becoming an upstanding man and homesteading alone on the fringes of the wild frontier. The burgeoning tent township of Molasses Pond is clenched in the bloody fist of the deadliest gunslinger the country has ever known, Lightning Jack McKade. McKade knows who Austin is. In fact, McKade knows more about Austin’s past than Austin does. He had a hand in creating it. On the last stagecoach until spring, a mail order bride, Sahara Miller, arrives in Molasses Pond. She claims to be Austin’s and has the documentation to prove it. But McKade’s gang will do anything to have her. Now Austin must choose: Strap on his twin six-shooters to protect the bride he never wanted, or turn a blind eye and keep his dream alive

At this point, my planning spreadsheet doesn’t list any f/f historicals coming out in April. I’m sure I’ll find a few when I do my keyword search in Amazon next month, but if you have, or know of, a book coming out that fits the podcast’s scope, don’t assume I’ll magically be aware of it--let me know! Last month, an author whose book was listed on the podcast tweeted about how honored they were for their book to be “on my radar.” I’d like to be clear about something. These book listings aren’t something you have to earn. They aren’t a prize to be won. They aren’t meant to be a difficult achievement. Quite honestly, they aren’t even an endorsement. The book listings are meant as a public service. A place to find out about f/f historicals you might want to follow up on and check out. Because to the best of my knowledge there is no other single place that is assembling this specific set of information. So if you have an f/f historical coming out, don’t sit there in a corner whispering to yourself, “Oh please Heather, please mention my book, please.” Because that’s not what this is about. Send me a link, a press release, a carrier pigeon with a promotional bookmark tied to its leg, anything. That’s all it takes to get your book mentioned. Really.

What Am I Reading?

So what have I been consuming lately? I saw an absolutely gorgeous f/f costume flick: Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Set in 18th century France, it’s an intensely psychological story about a reclusive young woman and the woman who comes to paint her portrait as a gift for the woman’s prospective husband. It doesn’t have a traditional romance ending, but is overall a positive story with beautiful costuming and sets. The story is very woman-centered. It’s in French with subtitles and you may need to hunt around for an art-house theater or wait for it to come out on video.

Similar in tone, in that it is a very woman-centered story but with an unflinching look at unpleasant aspects of history, I’ve been listening to the audiobook of The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, which I mentioned in last month’s book round-up. When I was checking out the preview for my mini-reviews write-up (available to Patreon supporters of the show) I found myself describing it as beautifully written, but out of sync with the sort of prose I was likely to enjoy reading. But even as I wrote that, it occurred to me that it was exactly the sort of prose that I enjoyed in audio narration--a text with a strong, idiosyncratic story-telling voice. And so I bought the audiobook and was on the nose in thinking I might enjoy it that way. It’s a very dark story, focusing on an episode of witch trials in 17th century Norway, though it has a lovely same-sex romance between the viewpoint characters. I haven’t finished it yet, so I don’t know whether it will end in tragedy or relief. When I review it, I’ll hide a spoiler on that point for those who need that information to know whether they want to read it.

In text, I just finished Aliette de Bodard’s The House of Sundering Flames, the final book in her very-alternate historical fantasy series set in a magically devastated Paris with fallen angels warring with Vietnamese dragon princes. It’s relevant to the podcast, not only for the sort-of early 20th century setting, but for the inclusion of casually queer characters all over the place. It’s a delight to read a story where you can relax and know that you’ll find your identity reflected somewhere, without any fuss being made about it.

I also started reading Edale Lane’s Merchants of Milan, set among warring factions in Renaissance Italy. It isn’t quite hitting my sweet spot yet, but we’ll see.

For a complete change of pace, I’ve started reading the graphic novel Rose of Versailles about a gender-bending swordswoman in the court of Marie Antoinette. My understanding is that there’s a fair amount of same-sex flirtation, though not actual serious romance, but the art is lovely though I’m struggling a bit with the manga reading layout. I’m not used to the formatting of graphic novels designed for Japanese publication and I keep tracking the panels in the wrong direction!

What are you reading, watching, or listening to with queer women in history? Would you like to come on the podcast and talk about it? I’m always looking for people who’d like to share their favorites on the book appreciation segments.

Show Notes

Your monthly update on what the Lesbian Historic Motif Project has been doing.

In this episode we talk about:

Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

Links to Heather Online

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