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It is a disquieting thing to write up one’s read of an anthology in which one has a story. If you love everything, you’re just being a self-interested cheerleader. If you dislike anything, you’re being disloyal to your colleagues. But I’ve pledged to blog everything, so here’s my take on this collection of lesbian historical romance short stories. (For ethical purposes I won’t be posting this as a review on Amazon or Goodreads, though.)
Volvur (Megan McFerren) – Iceland on the pagan/Christian cusp. Two young women in training as mystics flirt and enter a sexual relationship. The description of the setting is vivid and atmospheric, but is overshadowed by the erotic interlude which takes up nearly half the page-count. (The intent of the collection was to be specifically romance and not erotica, but a few of the stories skirt the line rather closely.)
Where My Heart Goes (Heather Rose Jones) – (My story, obviously.) A possible story behind the love poems written by Sienese intellectual Laudomia Forteguerri to Duchess Margaret of Parma, bastard daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor. Their lives wind around the tangle of 16th century Italian politics.
In Full Moon Light (Patty G. Henderson) – Set in Puritan New England, the romance between orphaned Prudence and wise-woman Abigail is threatened by the witch-craze. The historicity of the story is undermined by supernatural elements in the climax.
Emma (Priscilla Scott Rhoades) – A sweet story set on the cusp of the American Civil War involving a girl who disguises herself as a boy to run away from home and takes a job as handyman at a school for the deaf. Complications from a budding romance with one of the students motivate her to enlist in the army. I liked the voice (it’s told in something of a diary style) and the historic context was quite believable.
Saffron and Fennel (Susan Smith) – This story provides something of a historical two-fer, entwining the stories of a pair of women in Minoan Crete and the Victorian archaeologist and her companion who discover their tomb. Both contexts are nicely detailed, especially the Minoan one. The one little detail that drove me crazy, though, is that one of the Minoan protagonists’ names was rendered as “Ariadnh”, apparently mistaking eta for an “h”. Both couples enjoy romance: the earlier pair in carefree openness, the later pair enabled by class privilege and gender disguise, but with a realistic touch of peril.
Propriety (Cara Patterson) – In the Vienna of Strauss, a young woman of the Habsburg aristocracy discovers the limits of independence and privilege when she falls for an opera star’s hairdresser and goes against her mother’s machinations to try to bring the girl into her life. The class transgressions felt simultaneously uncomfortable and a bit strained. I’d have loved to get more of the setting.
A Year of Silent Promise (Dorreen Perrine) – A vaguely unspecified mid-19th century (?) New England setting, in which a painter struggles to maintain a part-time romance with a woman who is far more ambivalent about turning her back on heteronormativity. The painter’s ability to see the potential in others around her saves it from following the more traditional path of such stories. A slow-paced, inward-directed story.
The Bridge (Connie Wilkins) – There are some historic tropes that have lasting popularity for romantic encounters between women. WWI ambulance drivers take their lead from Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness, though ideally with more positive results. Reggie is home on leave in the English countryside after her girlfriend and fellow driver became a casualty. Healing begins when she encounters the cousin of a neighbor and has the benefit of various people “in the know” pushing the two women together.
Captain My Captain (Lexy Wealleans) – More English country estate drama when Sylvie brings her (male) fiancé to meet her titled godfather and re-ignites a forgotten crush on his daughter. Set during the “lost generation” with most families haunted by WWI losses, and rocked by social and economic changes. A touch of wish-fulfillment is added by a somewhat improbable pirate’s treasure.
The Rum Runner and the Showgirl (R.G. Emanuelle) – This story is packed full of the tropes and plot fixtures of the American Prohibition era, where ambitious singer Fanny finds herself romanced by smooth-talking Nick who, in tenuous disguise as a man, fronts for the local alcohol smugglers.
Nightingale (Jean Copeland) – It probably isn’t surprising that WWII gets a disproportionate presence in this collection, with its themes of the wartime opportunities for women to take on traditionally masculine roles, and for the resulting homosocial work environments to bring together women with lesbian interests. Club owner Sid has an unfortunate habit of falling for her hired singers, but her decision to back off a little when Florence auditions for a job creates the context for a slow, leisurely courtship.
My Elizabeth (MJ Williamz) – One hazard of having too many stories concentrated in the same socio-historical milieu is a tendency for overlap of themes. This story, set in a wartime airplane factory, feels very similar in structure to the previous one in having the newcomer on the job romanced by the boss. It shares with the next story the industrial setting and the hazards of workplace intrigues and jealousies. In all three cases, the events of the story are more slice-of-life than plot. It’s also inevitable that they all evoke the standard plots of lesbian pulp novels, with the major difference being the promise of a happy ending.
With a Spark (Aliisa Percival) – As noted above, an industrial setting, but with the workplace intrigues interrupted by the visit of a famous actress on a war bond tour, who isn’t above a quickie in the locker room with one of the factory workers. The plot felt a bit patched together from unrelated parts.
With Ball Due Respect (Allison Fradkin) – Romance behind the scenes of a women’s softball league (think A League of Their Own). A slice-of-life approach with a lighthearted cover to the real hazards of daring to enter a lesbian relationship with a teammate. I have to confess, though, that the overwhelming use of period slang and rhyming word-play got old for me quickly.
Beebo Brinker (excerpt) (Ann Bannon) – A short scene from this classic series of the world of gay bars and farm girls who have fled to the Big City. A bit more dreary in tone than many of the other stories, but reflective of what was considered a startlingly positive take on lesbian life at the time it was originally published.
Honeydew Moon (Lee Lynch) – This stands out stylistically from most of the stories, in being told as a rambling second-person narrative of an ‘80s (?) lesbian couple’s friendship with a couple of a previous generation, as told decades later to an implied young woman of the current day. Despite a certain air of “kids these days!”, the format is refreshing and vivid and the two couples have unique stories rather than feeling like fictional tropes.
Volvur (Megan McFerren) – Iceland on the pagan/Christian cusp. Two young women in training as mystics flirt and enter a sexual relationship. The description of the setting is vivid and atmospheric, but is overshadowed by the erotic interlude which takes up nearly half the page-count. (The intent of the collection was to be specifically romance and not erotica, but a few of the stories skirt the line rather closely.)
Where My Heart Goes (Heather Rose Jones) – (My story, obviously.) A possible story behind the love poems written by Sienese intellectual Laudomia Forteguerri to Duchess Margaret of Parma, bastard daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor. Their lives wind around the tangle of 16th century Italian politics.
In Full Moon Light (Patty G. Henderson) – Set in Puritan New England, the romance between orphaned Prudence and wise-woman Abigail is threatened by the witch-craze. The historicity of the story is undermined by supernatural elements in the climax.
Emma (Priscilla Scott Rhoades) – A sweet story set on the cusp of the American Civil War involving a girl who disguises herself as a boy to run away from home and takes a job as handyman at a school for the deaf. Complications from a budding romance with one of the students motivate her to enlist in the army. I liked the voice (it’s told in something of a diary style) and the historic context was quite believable.
Saffron and Fennel (Susan Smith) – This story provides something of a historical two-fer, entwining the stories of a pair of women in Minoan Crete and the Victorian archaeologist and her companion who discover their tomb. Both contexts are nicely detailed, especially the Minoan one. The one little detail that drove me crazy, though, is that one of the Minoan protagonists’ names was rendered as “Ariadnh”, apparently mistaking eta for an “h”. Both couples enjoy romance: the earlier pair in carefree openness, the later pair enabled by class privilege and gender disguise, but with a realistic touch of peril.
Propriety (Cara Patterson) – In the Vienna of Strauss, a young woman of the Habsburg aristocracy discovers the limits of independence and privilege when she falls for an opera star’s hairdresser and goes against her mother’s machinations to try to bring the girl into her life. The class transgressions felt simultaneously uncomfortable and a bit strained. I’d have loved to get more of the setting.
A Year of Silent Promise (Dorreen Perrine) – A vaguely unspecified mid-19th century (?) New England setting, in which a painter struggles to maintain a part-time romance with a woman who is far more ambivalent about turning her back on heteronormativity. The painter’s ability to see the potential in others around her saves it from following the more traditional path of such stories. A slow-paced, inward-directed story.
The Bridge (Connie Wilkins) – There are some historic tropes that have lasting popularity for romantic encounters between women. WWI ambulance drivers take their lead from Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness, though ideally with more positive results. Reggie is home on leave in the English countryside after her girlfriend and fellow driver became a casualty. Healing begins when she encounters the cousin of a neighbor and has the benefit of various people “in the know” pushing the two women together.
Captain My Captain (Lexy Wealleans) – More English country estate drama when Sylvie brings her (male) fiancé to meet her titled godfather and re-ignites a forgotten crush on his daughter. Set during the “lost generation” with most families haunted by WWI losses, and rocked by social and economic changes. A touch of wish-fulfillment is added by a somewhat improbable pirate’s treasure.
The Rum Runner and the Showgirl (R.G. Emanuelle) – This story is packed full of the tropes and plot fixtures of the American Prohibition era, where ambitious singer Fanny finds herself romanced by smooth-talking Nick who, in tenuous disguise as a man, fronts for the local alcohol smugglers.
Nightingale (Jean Copeland) – It probably isn’t surprising that WWII gets a disproportionate presence in this collection, with its themes of the wartime opportunities for women to take on traditionally masculine roles, and for the resulting homosocial work environments to bring together women with lesbian interests. Club owner Sid has an unfortunate habit of falling for her hired singers, but her decision to back off a little when Florence auditions for a job creates the context for a slow, leisurely courtship.
My Elizabeth (MJ Williamz) – One hazard of having too many stories concentrated in the same socio-historical milieu is a tendency for overlap of themes. This story, set in a wartime airplane factory, feels very similar in structure to the previous one in having the newcomer on the job romanced by the boss. It shares with the next story the industrial setting and the hazards of workplace intrigues and jealousies. In all three cases, the events of the story are more slice-of-life than plot. It’s also inevitable that they all evoke the standard plots of lesbian pulp novels, with the major difference being the promise of a happy ending.
With a Spark (Aliisa Percival) – As noted above, an industrial setting, but with the workplace intrigues interrupted by the visit of a famous actress on a war bond tour, who isn’t above a quickie in the locker room with one of the factory workers. The plot felt a bit patched together from unrelated parts.
With Ball Due Respect (Allison Fradkin) – Romance behind the scenes of a women’s softball league (think A League of Their Own). A slice-of-life approach with a lighthearted cover to the real hazards of daring to enter a lesbian relationship with a teammate. I have to confess, though, that the overwhelming use of period slang and rhyming word-play got old for me quickly.
Beebo Brinker (excerpt) (Ann Bannon) – A short scene from this classic series of the world of gay bars and farm girls who have fled to the Big City. A bit more dreary in tone than many of the other stories, but reflective of what was considered a startlingly positive take on lesbian life at the time it was originally published.
Honeydew Moon (Lee Lynch) – This stands out stylistically from most of the stories, in being told as a rambling second-person narrative of an ‘80s (?) lesbian couple’s friendship with a couple of a previous generation, as told decades later to an implied young woman of the current day. Despite a certain air of “kids these days!”, the format is refreshing and vivid and the two couples have unique stories rather than feeling like fictional tropes.
