I’ve never posted before so I don’t know if there’s already a list or more appropriate place to put this but recently last month I came to the realization that I’m a lesbian and I’m looking for fiction to help me navigate what will come next/not feel alone.
It’s still hard to come to terms with, sometimes I still cry and wish it wasn’t real, but it is a reality I have to accept for myself in secret. The realization has brought a lot of clarity to parts of my life that never made sense before and it’s relieving in some ways but with it comes the fact that I cannot come out of the closet until I am in a safe environment to do so. Everyone around me is homophobic and religious, to the point where it would be dangerous to even confide in someone. I won’t ramble, but this is why I need some books to help me feel less alone in this.
I’ve read Priory of the Orange Tree, A Dowry of Blood, am currently reading The Hells of Notre Dame and while they were all nice reads (esp Priory), I’d really like a book where I can see those kinds of struggles being lived by someone else. If anyone knows about any books, YA or Adult, that deal with those sort of things— the homophobia, the family fallout, the comphet issues, feeling like you’re living two lives, etc I’d really appreciate any recommendations 💛
by musingcypher
3 Comments
I don’t know any off the top of my head, but I think there’s a high chance there are memoirs covering exactly that. I can try to do some research to see if I can find some for you if you’d like?
Hood by Emma Donoghue (sp? The same woman who wrote Room) is about an Irish woman in her 30s, closeted to her mom and to most people who know her, whose partner died in a car crash.
First, congratulations on being true to yourself. It’s so hard not to want to shout it from the rooftops about how all those little things make sense now; it’s like this giant lightbulb over your whole life. On the flip side, it’s a really crap situation you find yourself in, and I’m so sorry to hear it. 💛
These suggestions are older, but I think they might fit the bill:
– Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters
– Becoming Bobbie by RJ Stevens
– Tipping the Velvet by Emma Donoghue (there’s a BBC mini series too, which was really well done)
– Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (a classic)
Finally, anything and everything written by Ivan E Coyote. Read everything that you can by them. Seriously.