(Originally aired 2024/08/03 - listen here)
Welcome to On the Shelf for August 2024.
Thank goodness for pre-scheduled podcasts, because when this show is going live—assuming nothing untoward happens in the mean time—I am in Iceland, having a brief stopover on my way to Scotland, where I’ll be attending the World Science Fiction Convention and then doing a couple weeks of sightseeing. I hope to have all sorts of fun tidbits to report in next month’s On the Shelf. I’ll be doing at least one interview for the podcast at the convention. And my sightseeing will include doing some deep-background location research for a couple different fiction projects, plus I’m hoping to make a sort of pilgrimage to Halifax to visit Shibden Hall. The last time I traveled for an entire month like this was back in 1999, so we’ll see what my stamina is like a quarter century later.
Barring unexpected complications (and I keep mentioning that, because my life has had a few too many unexpected complications lately) I’ll also have pre-scheduled this month’s essay—the first half of an “our f/favorite tropes” episode on theater and actresses in historic romance. Then when I get home at the end of the month, assuming everything happens on schedule, I’ll have a sound file from one of my narrators waiting for me and we’ll have another fiction episode to round out August. As you may have noticed, the episode with Elizabeth Birdsall’s “The Font of Liberty” should have been scheduled in June, but things worked out to move it a month later and I took the opportunity to have a brief break from writing new episodes and put it in the essay slot. But now we should be back on the default schedule of posting fiction on 5th Saturdays.
I’ve been having my regular mid-year panic attack about whether I’m doing the fiction series again next year. When I was freaking out a little about finding narrators, I was really dithering. And since next year is my retirement year, I’m going to need to take a hard look at the finances of the fiction series. But at the moment I’m still defaulting to doing it another year.
Publications on the Blog
The blog has seen a lot of new material this past month, all focused on research for the tropes double-feature about actresses and theater. I blogged a collection entitled Women Players in England, 1500-1660: Beyond the All-Male Stage, which contained 14 articles. The contents were of variable relevance to my purposes, but several were quite valuable on the subject of what women were doing on stage at various times and locations, especially when one expands the question beyond professional paid acting companies.
Next was a dissertation rather than a published work: The Salon and the Stage: Women and Theatre in Seventeenth-century France by Elizabeth Grist. Only a few bits focused on women participating in theater, but those bits were quite interesting.
Michael Shapiro’s Gender in Play on the Shakesperaean Stage: Boy Heroines and Female Pages was predictably more about the gender dynamics of having male actors play female roles—including female characters then disguising themselves as men—than about women in theatrical professions. But the book opens with a chapter on the social context of women cross-dressing in actual life, which is more generally relevant to the Project.
Finally, I have a somewhat scanty summary of Sophie Tomlinson’s Women on Stage in Stuart Drama, which is a socio-political history of the female presence in dramatic works, though not always about women performers. And that wraps up my deep-focus series on theater history. I probably won’t blog any new publications read in August because I’ll be traveling for the whole month, but I hope my momentum picks up again when I get back. It feels good to be blogging this much again.
Book Shopping!
To balance that out, I didn’t pick up any new research books this month, but I suspect maybe next month will make up for that.
Recent Lesbian/Sapphic Historical Fiction
New fiction also seems a bit sparse this month. I have one correction to last month’s listings. I had Tasha Suri’s The Lotus Empire as a July book, which was the schedule when I first put it in my spreadsheet. But evidently publication was pushed back to November, so I’ll try to remember to mention it again then. There’s also one August book that I’m saving for next month, in part because the publisher doesn’t have a link up yet, and in part because I’m planning to interview the author for the September show. That leaves us with a half dozen items for this month, less than our usual haul.
First up is a two-fer, because the release of the second book in a series brought the first one to my attention as well. Rachel Ford’s Meredith and Alec Thatch Mystery series is a bit easy to overlook as sapphic fiction because it involves a closeted couple with a “female husband” marriage in 1920s England. The first volume, Murder by Multiples came out last year and is available for free if you sign up for the author’s newsletter.
Quiet Fenwood-On-Sea is the perfect place for an heiress with secrets to hide. Or a killer.
Beautiful heiress Meredith Thatch married for love, and scandalized her community in the process. But her neighbors don't know the half of it. These days, she and spouse Alec keep a low profile, managing her hospital for recovering soldiers and invalids - and growing the finest roses in the county.
But when the most despised landowner in the area winds up dead shortly after feuding with the hospital, the finger of suspicion turns on the couple. And that's only the first murder.
With a Scotland Yard inspector asking uncomfortable questions and a killer on the loose, they need to solve the crime sooner rather than later. But how can they find a killer when there are suspects everywhere they turn, and motives all over the place?
The second book in the series, Murder by Rote, is the new release that caught my attention.
Aunt Anne’s house parties are to die for. Sometimes, literally.
When heiress Meredith Thatch accepted an invitation to a house party on her aunt’s country estate, she expected an exciting weekend for herself and partner Alec.
The worst storm in decades wasn’t in the cards, though. Neither was murder. Then a guest winds up dead in suspicious circumstances – and the only road in the area washes out.
Trapped in the manor, with every guest a possible suspect – and everyone harboring secrets – Meredith and Alec race to find the murderer.
Before their own secret comes out – or the killer strikes again.
Next up we have what looks like a short story, or maybe a novelette, Shadow of the Moon by T. Lona.
Eleanor Wren, a young woman of privilege in Victorian England, finds herself constrained by societal expectations and her father's ambitions. While her father arranges her marriage to Edward Lancaster, Eleanor secretly harbors feelings for her friend Lydia Blackwood. As Eleanor navigates the complex social landscape, she uncovers a hidden family secret that challenges everything she knows about her heritage. With Lydia's support, Eleanor must decide between following her heart and conforming to society's expectations.
The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis from Atria Books is set in a mythological Greece, with direct participation of the gods. I waver a bit on whether stories like this can be shoehorned into the historic fantasy category, as opposed to pure fantasy, but since almost all sapphic romances set in ancient Greece have mythic elements I’d be eliminating the category entirely if I had strict limits.
Young, headstrong Psyche has captured the eyes of every suitor in town and far beyond with her tempestuous beauty, which has made her irresistible as a woman yet undesirable as a wife. Secretly, she longs for a life away from the expectations and demands of men. When her father realizes that the future of his family and town will be forever cursed unless he appeases an enraged Aphrodite, he follows the orders of the Oracle, tying Psyche to a rock to be ravaged by a monstrous husband. And yet a monster never arrives.
When Eros, nonbinary deity of desire, sees Psyche, she cannot fulfill her promise to her mother Aphrodite to destroy the mortal young woman. Instead, Eros devises a plan to sweep Psyche away to an idyllic palace, hidden from the prying eyes of Aphrodite, Zeus, and the outside world. There, against the dire dictates of Olympus, Eros and Psyche fall in love. Each night, Eros visits Psyche under the cover of impenetrable darkness, where they both experience untold passion and love. But each morning, Eros flies away before light comes to break the spell of the palace that keeps them safe.
Before long, Psyche’s nights spent in pleasure turn to days filled with doubts, as she grapples with the cost of secrecy and the complexities of freedom and desire. Restless and spurred by her sisters to reveal Eros’s true nature, she breaks her trust and forces a reckoning that tests them both—and transforms the very heavens.
I thought rather hard about including the next title—also set in classical Greece—for entirely different reasons. And this is going to sound a little harsh. I don’t normally filter books for inclusion in the podcast based on writing quality. Because such a large proportion of sapphic historicals are published independently, and because my goal is the support and encouragement of the field regardless of the author’s background, I consider my job to be the simple presentation of information. But sometimes I do want to put a caveat on a listing, either because I’m concerned about how it handles a sensitive topic, or for some other reason. In the case of Teleios: Flaw, is Perfect by Asvoria K., when I looked at advance reviews to confirm that the book has sapphic content, the reviews were in agreement that the writing has some serious quality issues. The author’s website notes that English is not her first language, which may go some way to explaining this. So if the cover copy strikes your interest, you may well enjoy the story, but be aware of what you’re getting.
In the dusk of Hellas, the shadow of Rome began to stretch its dominance. Arete of Syracuse had lost her father and her beloved city. Following his last wish, Arete embarked on her odyssey to stop the strange malevolent forces behind which controlled the Roman Emperor Nero.
Guided by a determination in her heart, Arete traveled to the fabled city of Oraiapolis to find a mysterious Teleios, the perfect woman who was rumoured to be the living Aphrodite.
Along her journey traveling through different villages and cities, she fought against ferocious creatures and forged unbreakable bonds with a diverse cadre of companions, each carrying the weight of their own life in their hearts.
What will transpire throughout their perilous journey that will shape their destinies? And what evil forces would seek to capture the Teleios for their own sinister ends?
The Roaring Twenties continue to be a popular setting for historic romance. Check out: Craze by Margaret Vandenburg from Jaded Ibis Press.
Fresh off the boat from Roaring Twenties Paris, Henrietta "Henri" Adams lands in New York in the midst of the Queer Craze that is taking the city by storm. An art critic by day and lady lover by night, she ventures into the clandestine worlds of speakeasies and drag balls, which free her from the tyranny of the gender binary. Fun-loving slummers crash the party, flocking to see queer performers at the Astor Hotel and the Cotton Club. Broadway stars rub elbows with Harlem Renaissance luminaries at the Hamilton Lodge Masquerade Ball. But the revelry can't last forever. Faced with Depression-era crackdowns, Henri calculates the risk of fighting back, prompting a decision with far-reaching consequences.
For those looking for a book aimed at somewhat younger readers—or maybe you like YA books yourself--Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher from Bloomsbury Children's Books takes on the Robin Hood legend, with a twist.
‘You aren’t merry,’ said Clem to her captor. ‘And you aren’t all men. So there’s been some marketing confusion somewhere along the line.’
Mariel, a newly blooded and perpetually grumpy captain of the Merry Men, is desperate to live up to the legacy of her grandfather, the legendary Robin Hood. Clem, a too-perky backwoods healer known for her new-fangled cures, just wants to help people.
When Mariel's ramshackle band of bandits kidnap Clem as retribution for her guardian helping the Sheriff of Nottingham, all seems to be going (sort of) to plan … until Jack Hartley, Mariel’s father and Commander of the Merry Men, is captured in a deadly ambush. Determined to prove herself, Mariel sets out to get him back – with her annoyingly cheerful kidnappee in tow.
But the wood is at war. Many believe the Merry Men are no longer on the right side of history. Watching Clem tend the party’s wounds and crack relentlessly terrible jokes, Mariel begins to doubt the noble cause to which she has devoted her life. As the two of them grow closer, forced by circumstances to share a single horse and bed, one thing is clear. They must prepare to fight for their lives and for those of everyone they’ve sworn to protect.
Other Books of Interest
I’ve put one title in the “other books of interest” category because, despite being tagged as sapphic on the website where I spotted it, I can’t figure out the details from the cover copy. This is: Accidental Darlings by Crystal Jeans from The Borough Press.
In the night, I slept with my head under a shawl, listening to the ceaseless low groans of the house, telling myself that my mother would never have sent me to live with a murderer or a witch or a Miss Havisham…
1924.
When Anastasia’s beloved mother dies, she has no choice but to go to rural Skimpole and move in with ‘the Aunt’ – too fearsome for a first name, an outcast from the village who lives in a dilapidated mansion with two servants and an unruly pack of dogs.
The many mysteries of Skimpole are irresistible: how did Anastasia’s father really die? Who wrote the extremely raunchy love letters she has found in the Aunt’s bedroom, signed ‘Big Willy’? And why does everyone in the village hate the Aunt so much?
When some of the Aunt’s friends from her youth arrive at the house, wreathed in cigarette smoke and an air of debauchery, Anastasia may be closer to finding answers – but the truth she was so desperate to uncover will turn her entire world upside down…
What Am I Reading?
And what have I been reading in the last month? It’s been all audiobooks, as is often the case, in part because I’ve been doing so much print reading for the blog.
I rather enjoyed A Bluestocking's Guide to Decadence in Jess Everlee’s “Lucky Lovers of London” series. It’s a Victorian-era sapphic romance that’s part of a loosely-braided series where the other titles feature gay male romances. I hope it’s ok to say that I liked this more than I expected to—in part because I’m coming out of a run of historic romances that rather fell down on the historic side. But Everlee sets up a solidly believable context for her ill-matched lovers, including a glimpse of what parts of society might find same-sex couples well within the non-conformity they’re happy to accommodate. The miscommunications and anxieties that put stumbling blocks in the path to happiness are all plausible
There was a new release in the “Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney” historic mystery series, featuring the neurodivergent son of Darcy and Lizzie and the adventure-seeking daughter of the protagonists of Northanger Abbey. In Claudia Gray’s The Perils of Lady Catherine De Bourgh, the two young sleuths are summoned to Rosings Park to figure out who seems to be trying to kill Lady Catherine. The mystery plot was slightly flawed in that I quickly figured out whodunnit based on which character the protagonists were obviously overlooking in their considerations—although the theme of being overlooked and ignored aligned with the motive. But we get further slow progress of the budding romance between Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney at a believable and satisfactory pace that ensures the series is likely to continue for further developments.
And finally I went on a deliberate hunt to fill in the gaps in my K.J. Charles collection and listened to Unfit to Print, a second-chance romance overlaying a mystery involving the Victorian pornography industry, with a delightfully diverse cast. The only minor disappointment was how abruptly the mystery plot was resolved at the end, with almost no input from the protagonists. A happy ending, but not an entirely satisfying one in terms of pacing.
For next month, we’ll see what effects travel has on my reading. Sometimes I find myself ripping through things quickly on planes and trains, and sometimes I’m so busy having fun I forget to read.
Author Guest
To finish up, we have an author guest this month! I’m talking to Melissa Addey, a prolific author of historical fiction.
(An interview transcript will be added when available.)
Your monthly roundup of history, news, and the field of sapphic historical fiction.
In this episode we talk about:
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
Links to Heather Online
Links to Melissa Addey Online