This Wild Silence

May's title is "This Wild Silence" by Lucy Jane Bledsoe.

From the American Library Association:
Bledsoe follows the stories in Sweat (1995) and the working-class novel Working Parts (1997) with a tale of family loyalties, lies and secrets, and the daunting terrain of sisterhood between two wildly different people. Christine (Tina), a physician in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, seems to have difficulty in forming and maintaining intimate relationships and seeks solace in her work. Meanwhile, her outdoorsy, survival-enthusiast sister Liz's marriage to high-school sweetie Mark, now an educational publisher, seems faultless. But beneath smooth surfaces lie fault lines, as Tina learns while snow camping with Liz and Mark in California's Sierra Nevadas. Both women have lived with the guilt stemming from the disappearance of their brother, then a preschooler, while they were watching him during a family excursion three decades ago. Will the harsh environment provide Tina the perspective she needs to appreciate the subtleties of her new relationship with neighbor Flo, a poet; or Liz with the stimulus to break away from the lifetime of deceit that the two sisters share?

Questions for The Woman Who Owned the Shadows

Some questions to ponder as you read:

1. What moral/ethical choices did the characters make? What did you think of those choices?
2. Why do you think the author wrote this? What is her most important message?
3. How did you feel about the characters? Who did you like or not like and why?
4. What did you think of the ending?
5. How does the setting figure as a character in the story?

Will have more questions soon!

Heroic Journeys in Lesbian Literature

I found a women’s studies class syllabus (it's a pdf file) on heroic journeys in lesbian literature. The course is from San Diego State University. Here's a bit from the course description:

"In literature, myth, and religion, a human life has often been imagined as a journey along the path from birth to death: a quest, pilgrim’s progress, or heroic tale. Overcoming obstacles along her/his way, the pilgrim comes to understand her/his relation to self, gods, and society, and is rewarded at the end with love or punished with death. But what if that pilgrim progresses along a lesbian path? What kind of journey does she undergo? What kind of self does she discover—or construct? What kind of tale does she tell? What kind of love and place in society awaits her at the end?"

The course’s required texts include:
Paula Gunn Allen, The Woman Who Owned the Shadows
Leslie Feinberg, Stone Butch Blues
Jewelle Gomez, The Gilda Stories
Radclyffe Hall, The Well of Loneliness
Judith Katz, Running Fiercely Toward a High Thin Sound
Audre Lorde, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name
Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Virginia Woolf, Orlando

Since one of the titles mentioned is Paula Gunn Allen’s book, I thought we might consider these questions!

the Lammys

Hey, the Lambda Literary Foundation has announced the finalists for the annual Lambda Literary Awards! (aka the Lammys)

For us lovers of lesbian fiction, here are the finalists in the in the category of lesbian fiction:

A Seahorse Year by Stacey D'Erasmo, Houghton Mifflin
Abundant Light by Valerie Miner, Michigan State University Press
Life Mask by Emma Donoghue, Harcourt
Skels by Maggie Dubris, Soft Skull Press
Venus of Chalk by Susan Stinson, Firebrand Books

And in the new category of lesbian debut fiction:
Crybaby Butch by Judith Frank, Firebrand Books
Death by Discount by Mary Vermillion, Alyson Publications
Dish It Up, Baby! by Kristie Helms, Firebrand Books (note to book club members - we already read this one!)
Fire & Brimstone by Laurinda D. Brown, Strebor Books
Minus One: A Twelve-Step Journey by Bridget Bufford, Alice Street Editions