Good novels with lesbian protagonists?

[Ea]

Thread started from this post - I have the feeling I was about to highjack that thread completely

I asked this question:
I have been looking for novels with lesbian protagonists and it seem there is so little of it. Really, I can't think of anyone but Sarah Waters. At least the kind of books I'm looking for; basically "just" quality entertainment. I can find romance, and what I could call feminist-political fiction, but that's not what I am looking for. Does anyone have suggestions?

This is Seabound's anser and my comments - hope it makes sense

Originally Posted by Seabound

Unfortunately, I don't think there are many books out there that match what you are looking for. I consider Sarah Waters's books as falling squarely into the literary fiction bin. (As an aside, all her books except Tipping are included in the Guardian's "1000 novels everyone must read" list, which surprised me and made me glad both. It's one measure of her novels' impact. Both "Fingersmith" and "The Night Watch" were shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Orange Prize, and Waters has won several awards.) I've tried picking up a couple of Jeanette Winterson's books, but I've never managed to finish them. She can be hard for me to read, but I haven't given up on her yet.

As for recommendations, well, why don't you give "The Night Watch" another go?

Thanks for all the recommendations
It's funny how tastes differ, I would say Sarah Waters' books are not intellectual and/or arty enough to call it literary fiction, I'd say it was 'general', though also very high quality w. reg. to storytelling and writing style. Jeanette Winterson on the other hand, I would say is literary I like "Oranges are not the only fruit", which I think is probably her least literary and the most accessible. I've tried some of her other books, too, but they never really caught my interest.

I'll definitely give "Night Watch" a second try. In fact I just bough an e-version. I have it in hardback, but every time I look at it on the bookshelf I just think 'later' because it's such a large book

Originally Posted by Seabound

There are two books which I've read which I think fit the description of books you're looking for. Their setting is in the US instead of the UK. Both are well written but the styles are very different. Both are unhurried in telling the story, and, through good writing and storytelling, both pull off the seemingly impossible (for love stories) of keeping the reader's attention even without explicit sex between the main characters (i.e. don't expect anything in that department ):

* "Bittersweet" by Nevada Barr. ...

* "The Price of Salt" by Patricia Highsmith. ...

I wasn't specifically looking for anything in "that department" but if you have recommendations...

Anyway... I haven't heard about "Bittersweet", though I've read the Anna Pigeon series a long time ago. I'll definitely try it, looks great, definitely something I might like.
"The price of salt" I have actually read. The library had it, and even in translation. (now I'm starting to remember the books I have read). Do you know "Rubyfruit Jungle" by Rita Mae Brown?

Originally Posted by Seabound

BTW, for those who don't know yet, "The Little Stranger" does not have any gay characters in it, unlike Waters's other novels. I think some of her gay fans are a little disappointed by this, but I'm thrilled about it. I think it's a really good career move for her.

It looked like it didn't. I don't mind either - she should write what she wants to, and it's easy to be pigeonholed as that lesbian writer if she never does anything else. However with this dearth of books with interesting lesbian characters it's no wonder some could feel disappointed.

[BenG]

For Science Fiction you might like Ammonite by Nicola Griffith.

And you could check out the Lambda Literary Awards.

[zelda_pinwheel]

i'm not sure whether this really quite fits what you are looking for, but Orlando by Virginia Woolf comes to mind. it's a roman à clef, meaning she is writing about real people disguising them with different names (Orlando is based on Woolf's friend Vita Sackville-West), and to escape the censorship of the time the main character of the book is a man at the time he has a love affair with a woman, but later is transformed into a woman.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by BenG

For Science Fiction you might like Ammonite by Nicola Griffith.

And you could check out the Lambda Literary Awards.

All of Nicola Griffiths' novels are very well written - and available on Amazon. Some are Sci-Fi, some have a female lesbian PI.

[Ea]

I'll try Nicola Griffith, then. Thanks

@Zelda: I have read Orlando, and I liked it. But I like the film better though. If you liked the book and haven't seen the film, you should try watch it. If you are interested in Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf and their lives and times, I can recommend Nigel Nicholson's "Portrait of a marriage". It's a portrait of his parents, Vita and ??, and their marriage, and among other things, also his mother's lover Violet Trefusis. It's very entertaining.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Ea

I'll try Nicola Griffith, then. Thanks

@Zelda: I have read Orlando, and I liked it. But I like the film better though. If you liked the book and haven't seen the film, you should try watch it. If you are interested in Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf and their lives and times, I can recommend Nigel Nicholson's "Portrait of a marriage". It's a portrait of his parents, Vita and ??, and their marriage, and among other things, also his mother's lover Violet Trefusis. It's very entertaining.

thanks for the recommendation ! i haven't seen the film. i will try to check it out.

[daffy4u]

If you like mysteries, Laurie R. King's series about a San Francisco detective named Kate Martinelli might work for you.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

If you like mysteries, Laurie R. King's series about a San Francisco detective named Kate Martinelli might work for you.

Yes, they're great

[Seabound]

Originally Posted by Ea

Thread started from this post - I have the feeling I was about to highjack that thread completely

Hah, remember that you are at MobileRead, where hijacking is considered a virtue worth rewarding with a hundred other hijack posts. So the next time you're in the mood, hijack away! Except of course when you find yourself in the conservatory forum, where the punishment for hijacking is cutting off fingers to keep one from typing.

Thanks for all the recommendations
It's funny how tastes differ, I would say Sarah Waters' books are not intellectual and/or arty enough to call it literary fiction, I'd say it was 'general', though also very high quality w. reg. to storytelling and writing style. Jeanette Winterson on the other hand, I would say is literary I like "Oranges are not the only fruit", which I think is probably her least literary and the most accessible. I've tried some of her other books, too, but they never really caught my interest.

Oh, you'll get no argument from me about Winterson's "literariness"--I'm quite sure her writing is in that category. But I see we disagree about Waters, so we agree to disagree. Thinking about it, maybe a better tag for her novels would be just literature--with a capital L.

I'll definitely give "Night Watch" a second try. In fact I just bough an e-version. I have it in hardback, but every time I look at it on the bookshelf I just think 'later' because it's such a large book

I would venture to say that "Night Watch" is her most "literary" novel--unlayering characters with the aid of the plot device, and sustaining politcal undertones. (Oh yuck, now I think I'm sounding too "literary".)

I wasn't specifically looking for anything in "that department" but if you have recommendations...

No need to blush--it's only us MR geeks.

Do you know "Rubyfruit Jungle" by Rita Mae Brown?

I can still clearly remember the time I plunked down on a chair at a Barnes and Noble Cafe, in a town I didn't like (I was on a trip), and tried to read that book. I didn't like it at all, and I've never tried another Rita Mae Brown book since. I think maybe Fannie Flagg is the better and funnier writer.

...

[poohbear_nc]

How about Melissa Scott - sci fi/speculative fiction - very focused on gender issues.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by Seabound

Hah, remember that you are at MobileRead, where hijacking is considered a virtue worth rewarding with a hundred other hijack posts. So the next time you're in the mood, hijack away! Except of course when you find yourself in the conservatory forum, where the punishment for hijacking is cutting off fingers to keep one from typing.

I was actually one of those in favour of the conservatory, and I would say the most you risk is a sharp tongue but certainly not over the normal meanderings of a discussion.

Seriously, starting a new thread might also get more people to see the question and I really think it was better to leave the old thread to Ms. Waters and her books.

Originally Posted by Seabound

Oh, you'll get no argument from me about Winterson's "literariness"--I'm quite sure her writing is in that category. But I see we disagree about Waters, so we agree to disagree. Thinking about it, maybe a better tag for her novels would be just literature--with a capital L.

I could agree with that And then we'd agree after all!

Originally Posted by Seabound

No need to blush--it's only us MR geeks.

So you don't have any recommendations then?

Originally Posted by Seabound

I can still clearly remember the time I plunked down on a chair at a Barnes and Noble Cafe, in a town I didn't like (I was on a trip), and tried to read that book. I didn't like it at all, and I've never tried another Rita Mae Brown book since. I think maybe Fannie Flagg is the better and funnier writer.

...

I don't think I've read any of Fannie Flagg. Oh, wait, there was one about a TV host whose mother had a troubled background and then she, the TV host that is, gets a breakdown. Okay, but not especially interesting, except I didn't know anything about the concept of 'passing as white' before I read it.

[FizzyWater]

Kim Harrison's vampire/witch series has one lesbian protag...she's not the POV character, but she's definitely a main part of the series' story arc.

[Ea]

Thanks for all your suggestions, I will certainly look them up.

I think I'm at the moment not so much into reading sci-fi/fantasy/vampire/etc., but more general fiction, and I'm most interested if it's a main POV character.

[Sonist]

Don't know if this helps much, but Iris Murdoch has a bunch of significant gay (mostly) and lesbian characters in many of here novels, although not protagonists.

I believe An Unofficial Rose has a fairly prominent lesbian relationship in it, although I don't think it's one of her better books - I loved A Fairly Honorable Defeat, and also A Severed Head, among others, though, but no lesbians there, that I can recall:-) Murdoch was a great writer, regardless.

[Ea]

I've never read anything by Murdoch, but her novels sound interesting.