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Diana Victrix
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.
374 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1897
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 27, 2021
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵
So. You ever wanted to read a classic novel about a lesbian relationship THAT HAS A HAPPY ENDING? FROM 1897? THIS IS THAT BOOK. I cannot believe I’ve only just discovered it. This novel tells the story of two “spinsters” colliding with a French family living in New Orleans and the aftermath of that collision. Enid and Sylvia are unconventional and devoted to each other, living together and sharing a Romantic Friendship. They are a partnership, and plan to grow old together. When Enid’s suitor tells her that “Your loving a woman and my loving a woman are entirely different matters” she calmly tells him he doesn’t understand and he truly doesn’t. It is more than friendship. The novel’s plots lead to jealousy, love triangles and complications but as the title suggests (Diana was the Roman goddess of “Chasity”), the two women choose each other over their Male suitors. The story is really fun if you enjoy classic reads, (anyone who has read Howard’s End... one of the suitors Jocelin is basically Tibby) but it also discusses with nuance topics such as socialism, feminism and mental health. This book was everything. I shall be gushing at how incredible this book is especially considering when it was published for a long time! While it has the hallmarks of when it was written, this is a thoroughly progressive book and I can’t believe it’s fallen out of print. I hope I can find a physical copy one day!
So. You ever wanted to read a classic novel about a lesbian relationship THAT HAS A HAPPY ENDING? FROM 1897? THIS IS THAT BOOK. I cannot believe I’ve only just discovered it. This novel tells the story of two “spinsters” colliding with a French family living in New Orleans and the aftermath of that collision. Enid and Sylvia are unconventional and devoted to each other, living together and sharing a Romantic Friendship. They are a partnership, and plan to grow old together. When Enid’s suitor tells her that “Your loving a woman and my loving a woman are entirely different matters” she calmly tells him he doesn’t understand and he truly doesn’t. It is more than friendship. The novel’s plots lead to jealousy, love triangles and complications but as the title suggests (Diana was the Roman goddess of “Chasity”), the two women choose each other over their Male suitors. The story is really fun if you enjoy classic reads, (anyone who has read Howard’s End... one of the suitors Jocelin is basically Tibby) but it also discusses with nuance topics such as socialism, feminism and mental health. This book was everything. I shall be gushing at how incredible this book is especially considering when it was published for a long time! While it has the hallmarks of when it was written, this is a thoroughly progressive book and I can’t believe it’s fallen out of print. I hope I can find a physical copy one day!
June 9, 2015
The only bad thing about novels centring around romantic friendships is the inevitable ending. The plot can usually be laid out: these two women love each other so much, and say and write the most flowery, poetic things to each other, vowing to love each other eternally. Oh look, here are some handsome men. Let's watch as our two heroines separate from each other to marry the handsome men, while promising to still love each other, but only when they can get away from the inevitable "amiable domestic tyranny" of married life.
Those endings are kind of a downer, right? So, here, have a novel that takes that depressing plot sequence and turns it into a consideration of women, their work, their relationships with each other, and how marriage is probably not the best thing for any of those former things. It's a before-its-time feminist novel in all the right ways. It's also just really enjoyable, funny at times, and well worth tracking down (most likely on an out-of-copyright ebook site, if you're struggling to get a copy).
Those endings are kind of a downer, right? So, here, have a novel that takes that depressing plot sequence and turns it into a consideration of women, their work, their relationships with each other, and how marriage is probably not the best thing for any of those former things. It's a before-its-time feminist novel in all the right ways. It's also just really enjoyable, funny at times, and well worth tracking down (most likely on an out-of-copyright ebook site, if you're struggling to get a copy).
December 2, 2018
The best queer book you've never read.
March 15, 2013
This gets five damn stars NOT because it's the greatest novel or the best writing ever, but because good Lord, Florence Converse. A novel about romantic friendship between women where they don't get married? How did you even do this? How did everyone not just yell at you? This is ridiculously before its time. And the parts where they camp in the New Hampshire hills overnight are BEAUTIFUL and wonderful. I wish I could take Florence Converse to tea, but alas, I cannot. Because she is dead. I'm 90% sure I'll reread this at some point in my life.
September 9, 2010
This book feels so modern it's hard to believe it was published in 1897. Bostonian spinsters Enid and Sylvia travel South to New Orleans in hopes of improving Sylvia's health, but once there, they find more than they bargained for in the persons of Jocelin and Jacques Dumarais, French stepbrothers. A well-paced novel brimming w/ the turn-of-the-century American tensions of class, race, gender, the North/South divide, and womens' growing autonomy.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews