I know how pretentious it is to ask for something "literary." Unfortunately, that's exactly what I'm in the mood for–pretentious, high brow Fiction that happens to also include lesbian romance. Don't worry. I also love pop fic, YA, and romantasy when I'm in different moods.
Just for now, does anything come to mind that fits these two criteria? (Sapphic and literary) ?
by gatheringground
11 Comments
Tipping the Velvet, Big Swiss, Milk Fed, Alma Rose.
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. Set in the 19th century, it follows an oyster girl’s adventures when she leaves home. It’s a great story that was also made into a BBC mini series.
Becoming Bobbie by R.J. Stevens. Fabulous story that kind of feels like a thinly veiled autobiography. I reread it regularly.
I Keep my Exoskeletons to Myself, Marisa Crane
Sarah Waters has a few. The already-mentioned Tipping The Velvet, plus Fingersmith, Affinity, and The Paying Guests.
This is how you lose the time war
the pure and impure by Colette—it’s a deep book about love and identity, written in a beautiful way. definitely an interesting one, i love that book so much
Would “This is How You Lose the Time War” fit the bill?
Ali Smith immediately comes to mind, she’s a lesbian Scottish author – her seasonal quartet series is gorgeous, deals with a lot of present day issues, and many of her works include sapphic characters who are characters who just so happen to be sapphic (if that makes sense – there is more going on than their sexuality).
Not necessarily literary fiction, but very well written works that have plot other than ‘they’re both girls and they fall in love’: anything by Sarah Waters (Fingersmith probably should be everybody’s introduction into her work, but Affinity is my personal favourite), everything by Julia Armfield. Nicola Griffith has some incredible novels about queer women in various different genres (sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction – extremely well researched and well written). And then also:
Miranda July – The First Bad Man
Haruki Murakami – Sputnik Sweetheart
Sarah Thankam Mathews – All This Could Be Different
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
This is how you lose the time war
The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall