Lesbian Fiction

New 3/09

Bastard Out of Carolina  by Dorothy Allison
Bone, an illegitimate child in a family of social outcasts, sees her mother's happiness with her new husband and will not tell when the stepfather begins abusing her in the 1950s.

Lucky in the Corner by Carol Anshaw
A rocky relationship between mother Nora and daughter Fern is further complicated by Nora's later-in-life lesbianism and restlessness and Fern's discovery of maternal feelings while helping care for a friend's baby.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
A memoir done in the form of a graphic novel by a cult favorite comic artist offers a darkly funny family portrait that details her relationship with her father – a funeral home director, high school English teacher, and closeted homosexual.

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown
Born out of wedlock and adopted by a poor, loving family, Molly Bolt finds the South and even bohemian New York a hostile world for a lesbian but manages to thrive and remain confident.

Between Girlfriends by Elizabeth Dean
They’re here. They’re queer. They’re also drunk, outrageous, unstoppable, fashionable, hilarious, insightful, and hopeful they’ll find a girlfriend who can mix a mean cocktail and kiss like a house on fire. But when the chips are down, the dating’s getting ugly, and the smug couples are too obnoxious to bear, a woman’s best defense is always the comfort shared between girlfriends.

A Seahorse Year by Stacey D'Erasmo
An extended family living in San Francisco faces the approaching breakdown of a troubled adolescent boy and the tribulations caused by the difficulties of gay parenthood.

Landing by Emma Donoghue
Over the course of a year, the lives of two women – Sile, a flight attendant and world traveler, and Jude, a young archivist stubbornly attached to the town of Ireland, Ontario – intersect, in a story that reveals the joys and sorrows of a long-distance relationship.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
Mrs. Threadgoode's tale of two high-spirited women of the 1930s, Idgie and Ruth, helps Evelyn, a 1980s woman in a sad slump of middle age, to begin to rejuvenate her own life.

Map of Ireland by Stephanie Grant
In 1974, the first year of busing in Boston, Massachusetts, 17-year-old Ann Ahern's lesbianism, which has isolated her from other white students, draws her to her African French teacher and leads her to insights into blacks' struggles in the post-Civil Rights era.

Fall on Your Knees by Anne Maried McDonald
Set in coal-mining Nova Scotia at the beginning of the 20th century, this book explores the lives of the Piper family. James Piper meets and marries a very young teenager, with whom he has four daughters. The death of the eldest Piper daughters, Kathleen, haunts the survivors in this story of family secrets, incest and fidelity.

Unholy Birth by Andrew Neiderman
The bestselling author of "The Devils Advocate" delivers a riveting new supernatural thriller featuring a lesbian couple's involvement with a diabolical fertility clinic that could result in the birth of the Antichrist.

The Rules for Hearts: A Family Drama by Sara Ryan
When he reappears in her life after a four-year absence, Battle Hall Davies spends the summer before college with her brother Nick and learns a lot about Nick and herself. As Battle continues to struggle with her sexuality after falling for 22-year-old Meryl, one of her roommates (who has also hooked up with Nick), and her relationship with her brother falters after his lying habit catches up to him.

Beautiful Inez by Bart Schneider
Obsessed with beautiful violinist Inez Roseman, who is contemplating suicide, Sylvia Bran pretends to be a reporter and arranges an interview with the object of her fascination, awakening Inez from the turmoil in her life as the two women embark on a love affair that spins out of control.

Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair
Sinclair writes frankly about a young black woman's sexuality and emotions, growing up in Chicago's South Side in the '60s. By turns hilarious and harrowing, this "in-your-face" novel powerfully captures what it was like to be black – before black was beautiful.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Growing up as a foster child among a family of thieves, orphan Sue Trinder hopes to pay back that kindness by playing a key role in a swindle scheme devised by their leader, who is planning to con a fortune out of the naive Maud Lilly.

Power Book by Jeanette Winterson
Like the protagonist of her previous novel, Written on the Body, narrator Ali is not defined by sex. An Internet writer, she/he creates stories for people, offering "Freedom, just for one night," allowing her e-mail clients to be whoever they want to be. In return, they are required to understand that, like customers at Verde, the famous old costume shop in London where Ali lives, they may enter as themselves and leave as someone else.

More Drama in the Church by Dynah Zale
The young ladies of First Nazareth A.M.E. church are back. They still battle with the temptations of sin. Val and Julian's love for one another has grown strong, but a secret from Julian's past comes back to haunt her and forces her heart to open up to another. Dean is saved, thoughtful, and understanding to Olivia's need to remain celibate until she's married.