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CLICK ON A SUBJECT BELOW TO VIEW THE RELEVENT TEXT.
City Secrets – edited by Cathy Bolton & PP Hartnet •
Long Journey Home edited Caeia March •
Jenny Roberts - Needle Point •
Virginia Smith - The Ropemaker's Daughter •
Tart Noir - edited by Lauren Henderson & Stella Duffy •
Sarah Waters - Affinity •
Sarah Waters - Fingersmith •
Sarah Waters - Tipping The Velvet •
Louise Welsh - The Cutting Room •
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| City Secrets – edited by Cathy Bolton & PP Hartnet
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City Secrets – edited by Cathy Bolton & PP Hartnet 296 pages (Crocus)
Libertas price £9.99
"Sex in the City meets Queer as Folk in this dark, witty and refreshingly uncensored collection of short fiction. Lesbian, Gay, bisexual and transgender writers introduce us to characters you'd never guess lived next door to you."
Of the 24 stories, 12 are written by men, many of them (for us anyway) over-sexual and sometimes disturbing. The 12 women's stories are better - more varied, intelligent and unusual. Michelle Green's story about a dismal lesbian bar and an even more abysmal relationship, Jenny Robert's account of a transsexual woman's struggle, Susannah Marshall's tale about a relationship with a mermaid. Some good, entertaining pieces in here but since they make up less that half the book this may not be a collection that will appeal to everyone.
Reviewed by Libertas Date 13th August 2002
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Long Journey Home edited Caeia March 182 pages (Women’s Press)
Libertas! Offer Price £6.99 (RRP £10.99)
Short Stories by New Lesbian Writers
The thing that strikes us most (and the reason we like it so much) is that the stories are 'proper' stories. Good solid tales of lesbian experience that sometimes make you laugh, sometimes bring a lump to your throat.. All of them revolve loosely around the concept of 'coming home' as a lesbian, and they are all incredibly different and stimulating. There is an erotic one, one about love, about being apart, about the past, about being true to oneself and, more than anything, about being out and proud and just...well, you.
Reviewed by Libertas Date 13th August 2002
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Needle Point
Libertas price paperback £8.99
Alma Fritchley (author of Chicken Run, Chicken Feed, Chicken Out and Chicken Shack) writes: I have always loved Amsterdam and this excellent debut novel reminded me why. Like the city itself, it is a tantalising mix of passions and excitement. Needle Point is full of underlying danger, interspersed with a tongue-in-cheek wit that spills onto the pages - and one of the best finales I have ever come across.
Cameron McGill is flawed yet strong and when her journalist sister, Carrie, dies in circumstances so out of character, she is forced to look beyond the line fed to her by the police. Unable to accept the advice of friends and colleagues, McGill decides that her sister deserves more than a dismissive shrug of the shoulders and the 'shit happens' attitude of officialdom. Her nightmare journey through the seedier side of cosmopolitan Amsterdam is a constant reminder that all is not as it seems. The individuals she meets along the way: the German Businesswoman with an agenda of her own; Hellen, a lesbian cop who irritates and then intrigues our heroine and the street people, the vulnerable and the young are all skilfully drawn. With a backdrop of squats, unhelpful officials and drug-induced danger that is never very far away, Needle Point delves into very murky waters indeed. An impressive debut... hugely believable characters and bright as a button prose.
Reviewed by Alma Fritchley
I really enjoyed Needle Point. I normally read for 15 minutes when I go to bed and fall asleep still reading. I ended up staying awake for at least 1 hour every night reading and then waking early so that I could read for another half hour. It is some years since I was in Amsterdam and reading the book made me want to return. I had not discovered any lesbian bars and clubs when I was there and the book made me want to go back and find them.
Name Maureen Date May 2002
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The Ropemaker's Daughter
Silvermoon price paperback £8.99
The latest offering from the Diva stable:
A novel fraught with psychological disquiet, Virginia Smith's debut publication hinges on the consequences that arise when trust is fundamentally flawed or misplaced. Rebecca's compulsive deceit has overwhelmed her life to such an extent that everything she says, every story she tells is based on falsehood. She absorbs other's lifestories and modifies them to better suit her outlook and with time has almost lost sight of herself. But one man's story is too familiar, too similar to one she has heard before, and the distinctions between life, lies, reality and edifice threaten to break down completely.
A fabulous first novel which does not necessarily aim to uncover the truth but rather to expose deceit, The Ropemaker's Daughter will no doubt leave you wondering who exactly you can trust.
Reviewed by Silver Moon Bookshop at Foyles Date 6th August, 2002
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| Tart Noir - edited by Lauren Henderson & Stella Duffy
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Tart Noir - edited by Lauren Henderson & Stella Duffy 320 pages (Pan Macmillan)
Libertas price £6.99
"Chick lit meets crime in this innovative selection of new stories challenging all the basic tenets of feminism and political correctness… this collection challenges the male rules of the crime story with a glorious assembly of heroines… you wouldn't like to meet in a dark alley." The Guardian.
20 Entertaining stories from accomplished writers, all about girls behaving badly. Sweet, sour, sharp and sexy. Some straight, a few lesbian, most just bad and bitchy. Highlights include Val McDermid's very first sex story (fabulous!) and Stella Duffy's dark tale of an older woman's affair with a young boy. The book's worth it for these two stories alone! But there are many others to tickle your fancy –including the tale of a woman who has an affair with a Dolphin! An excellent collection.
Reviewed by Libertas Date 13th August 2002
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Affinity
Silvermoon price paperback £6.99
Classically written and exquisitely understated, Waters' second book is a Victorian tale of mystery and intrigue, as Margaret, a visiting Lady at the women's prison falls under the spell of spiritualist Selina. As the twists are unravelled, you will find yourself desperately wanting to believe in magic.
Reviewed by Silver Moon Bookshop at Foyles Date 6th August, 2002
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Fingersmith
Silvermoon price hardback from £12.99 to £9.99
This, Waters' third foray into Victorian England, is arguably her most ambitious plot yet: the story twists and the action switches between storylines and characters in such an absorbing way that the pages keep on turning. It begins as the simple story of Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth and brought up amongst petty thieves on the periphery of London's underworld, and steadily evolves into an intensely researched and expertly crafted network of people and places, contrasting classes and sexualities.
Waters is perhaps our finest historical novelist, and the range of her evocative power is no better displayed than in this novel. You really can imagine the smells and dingy sights of Lant Street, the slightly sinister gloom of Maud's mansion and this is all down to Waters' capacity for forceful suggestion and subtlety. A truly ingenious tale of secrets and lies.
Reviewed by Silver Moon Bookshop at Foyles Date 6th August, 2002
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Tipping The Velvet by award-winning author Sarah Waters
Silvermoon price paperback £6.99
Described by The Independent On Sunday as a 'Sapphic Moll Flanders', this soon-to-be dramatised romp is a multi-layered novel taking you by turns from the world of music hall drag acts to the glittering temptation of being a kept 'boy'.
Reviewed by Silver Moon Bookshop at Foyles Date 6th August, 2002
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The Cutting Room - Louise Welsh - 294 pages (Canongate)
Libertas price £10.99
Written by a lesbian, this is the story of Rilke, a small-time auctioneer - a gay man - and someone who, superficially, is not too nice. But Louise Welsh has also drawn a man who is sensitive, funny, friendly - and surprisingly moral too. So when he's clearing out a dead man's house and he discovers a pile of violent, erotic photographs, Rilke is shocked enough to want to know more and in spite of ourselves we begin to like him. The plot - the heart of any crime novel - is well-constructed, and entertaining with a twist at the end that took me by surprise. This is a simply stunning debut novel which I found difficult to put down. It's got to be one of the best this year. Just brilliant!
Reviewed by Libertas Date 13th August 2002
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