What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
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Private Pages
SOLVED: Non-Fiction
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SOLVED. Diary of young lesbian girl in the early 1900s, from book of women's diaries possibly published in '80s [s]
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Thanks, but sadly not her. I'm familiar with Anne Lister and she's from a much earlier period. The woman who wrote this diary was writing it in the early 1900s. Prior to the first World War, but not as far back as the 19th century.This girl's diary was only one of several in the book, not the entire book. So I guess that's why I'm having trouble finding it. She didn't have a whole book of her own.
Tasting Life Twice
? Here is a list of what's inside:
Contents:
Posting-up / Stephanie Grant -- Anna in a small town / Mary La Chapelle -- The profound theory of complementarity / Jan Ramjerdi -- The escape artist / Judith Katz -- Tiny, smiling daddy / Mary Gaitskill -- Not quite Peru / Lee Ann Mortensen -- No soap radio / Pamela Shepherd -- Lover boys / Ana Castillo -- Joshua's visit / Kristina McGrath -- The jetsams / E.J. Graff -- The house with the horse and the blue canoe / Cheryl Strayed -- Ibiza / Jane DeLynn -- Excerpts from the Sapphic diary of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz / Alicia Gaspar de Alba -- Lattitude / Stacey D'Erasmo -- Every day and every night / Rebecca Brown -- This early / Mei Ng -- A quiet acre / W.W. Riley -- Swimming upstream / Beth Brant -- Angels and ministers of Grace / Blake C. Aarens -- The butterfly / Jenifer Levin -- Tattoo / Carla Tomaso -- Dreaming birth / Linsey Abrams -- Old souls / Carol Anshaw -- The bay of angels / Carole Maso.
Rainbowheart, do know if the book was a mix of fiction and nonfiction stories? Or, were they all nonfiction?
Thanks Liralen. I don't think it's Revelations, but I'm not 100% on that. My library has this book, so I'll check just to be certain.
Thanks Tab! Sadly I don't think that's the right book. It does have a pink cover, but the book we used in class was definitely a collection of women's diaries. All diaries, so no essays or fiction.
Maybe A Woman Like That: Lesbian And Bisexual Writers Tell Their Coming Out Stories
or Our Lives: Lesbian Personal Writings
?
Thanks Michele! Not either of those, sadly. The whole book was not lesbian themed, by the way. I am pretty sure that the only lesbian diary in the book was the one we read in class.
Liralen, thanks again. I checked Revelations and unfortunately it is not the one.
Rainbowheart wrote: "The whole book was not lesbian themed, by the way."Ah, ok, that helps...
Private Pages: Diaries of American Women 1830s-1970s maybe? There are some pink elements on the cover.
And from the Kirkus review: For example, the 50 pages that chronicle a turn-of-the-century schoolgirl's intense crushes on her female teachers take on a new significance when the afterword states that she acknowledged herself a lesbian some 30 years later.https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...
Sorry, I missed this the first time you posted! That's the book for sure. I recognize the cover, and the review confirms it. Thanks so much for your help!
Super! I did wonder whether my suggestion is so far off as to not deserve a comment, and then I found the review and thought I could bump the thread.
What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
Private Pages: Diaries of American Women 1830s-1970s (other topics)A Woman Like That: Lesbian And Bisexual Writers Tell Their Coming Out Stories (other topics)
Our Lives: Lesbian Personal Writings (other topics)
Tasting Life Twice (other topics)
Revelations: Diaries of Women (other topics)
You guys got my last one so quickly, dare I hold out hope for a repeat performance? ;)
When I was in college, we read an excerpt of a young lesbian girl's diary in one of my women's studies or women's history classes. It was from a book (an actual book) of women's diaries that I think was published in the '80s. Pink cover, maybe? The professor had a copy of the book on her desk, but we students only had photocopies of the relevant diary.
Since we only read the one diary, I can't give details as to the contents of the rest of the book, but this particular diary was written by a young girl growing up in the early 1900s. Prior to the first World War, maybe 1900 to 1912 or something similar? The girl was about 10 or 11 when she started the diary. She lived in a small town and her father was a shopkeeper. He might have owned a general store.
She wrote a lot about her friends and most particularly about all the crushes she had on young women, especially a teacher. As she gets older, she worries about this in the diary and about not falling in love with men. I think finally in late high school or college, she starts a relationship with a boy, but in the postscript to the diary it's revealed that the author did eventually end up coming out as a lesbian in the 1950s.
Long shot, but I've wondered for years about this. I don't think the woman was anyone famous, but I'm not 100% on that.