I read Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit Jungle when I was way too far in the closet to really get it but it sure did leave a big impression on me.
I recently listened to The Price of Salt and found it definitely worthwhile.
Fingersmith was great. I figure Tipping the Velvet would be just as great.
I know Stone Butch Blues is a must-read for many.
Anyone got any other favorites for the list for The Little Lesbian Handbook? I forgot to mention books in my last post. 😉
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‘You’re Not From Around Here, Are You?’ by Louise Blum. I recently read it. It isn’t a masterpiece, but I think it is an honest portrayal of her time trying to start a family with her partner in a small town. Could be helpful for someone.
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I’m not too much of an expert on lesbian novels, which is a bit weird since I love to read, but the thing is I usually read nonfiction. I Googled “best lesbian novels” just now and found I wasn’t familiar with lots of them. Here’s a few that I have read though.
Part One—Definitely put these on the list:
1. Tipping the Velvet–THE BEST LESBIAN NOVEL OF ALL TIME. I have read it many times.
2. Zami: A New Spelling Of My Name by Audre Lorde—This book is fascinating and enjoyable. Lorde was an interesting person, a fantastic writer, and an important lesbian and feminist activist. This is her autobiography, but it reads a bit like a novel because of her gift for storytelling.
Part Two—Maybe put these on the list:
1. Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald. She is a genius-level writer and this book is absolutely stunning. She is a lesbian, and the book goes through the entire multi-generation history of a family, and one of the female characters has a relationship with another woman. It doesn’t have a ton of lesbian content but it has a little, and it’s such a good book that I can’t help gushing about it.
2. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson. This novel is somewhat sad because it’s a girl growing up in a repressive religious family and she falls in love with her female friend but is punished for it. I don’t know if you want sad novels on your list or not. It’s very well-written though, and I’ve read it a couple of times and seen the film.
3. Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson. This novel is an intense novel about the narrator’s love for a woman. She never lets the reader know the name or sex of the narrator but when I read it I get the strong impression that the narrator is female. I haven’t read it in a long time because it’s so intense it can be a bit too much for me. I really should read it again.
4. Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson. It only has a little bit of lesbian content. Mostly it’s just a really weird novel. I have a review of it on my blog if you want to read it. https://purplesagefem.wordpress.com/2016/04/07/sexing-the-cherry/
5. Valencia by Michelle Tea. A really punk novel about young San Francisco dykes who spend their time drinking, doing drugs, making money illegally, and refusing to fit into society. It’s kind of a sex-pozzie novel though, contains BDSM and scenes of them making porn. Not sure if you want that sort of thing on your list. But it’s a really fun to read book and it’s entirely focused on lesbians.
I hope other commenters will add their favourites, I look forward to reading which books you like!
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Fall On Your Knees is one of my favorite books of all time.
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And as you said, of course Stone Butch Blues and Fingersmith.
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Anything by Katherine V Forest – Curious Wine, Daughters of a Coral Dawn, An Emergence of Green, the Kate Delafield Mysteries series
Barbara Ann Wright – The Pyramid Waltz, and the next two books in the trilogy, can’t remember their titles right now
Ann Bannon – Odd Girl Out, and her Beebo Brinker series
Fannie Flagg – Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Alice Walker – The Color Purple
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BTW both Stone Butch Blues and Zami are available free online.
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We’ll have to put in links!
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Oh jeez, I forgot Alison Bechdel’s work. Her graphic novel Fun Home and her comics Dykes To Watch Out For.
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And you just reminded me I left her off the list! Argh, getting so fatigued from the listings.
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Judy Grahn’s books are powerful, Queen of Ands, Queen of Swords, and I have quoted many times from Another Mother Tongue: Gay Words, Gay Worlds, where she uses Gay in a generic way, but talks about Ceremonial Dykes, Amazons and other powerful Lesbian Shamanic aspects giving us a herstorical place and continuity as a People throughout time. She addresses the same for Gay men. As Lesbians we often had a herstoric place as Warriors, a shamanic and spiritual aspect since we are not tied to the continual hetro reproductive cycle, frees us up for spiritual, magical, healing and artistic functions within the Tribe/People…
Of course I loved The Wanderground by Sally Gearhart.
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Stone Butch Blues will practically alter your DNA it is so life-changing. It will leave you trembling with just about every emotion possible.
A personal favourite of mine when I was much younger was a book called Dare Truth or Promise, by Paula Boock. It was definitely a catalyst in my coming-out process.
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