The Long Way Home
Isabelle and Ruth find more than just a shortcut through the woods on a walk home from school. They’re both at the top of their form…in more ways than one. But the disappearance of a certain red sash causes an investigation at school that threatens everything they’ve built together in the Lost-Hour Forest.
Waltzing Matilda
Rosamond gives dancing lessons every Thursday afternoon from 2 to 4 to supplement her war-widow’s income. Eustacia has never known what to do with her hands during a dance, until Rosamond shows her how. She keeps her eyes closed the entire time they sweep about the floor, afraid to see how she’s doing. She knows exactly what she’ll see once she opens them.
The Summer Of My First Tambourine
Smoke poured over the caldera and cast a strange and darkling light over the streets of Pompeii. “I know a place we can hide,” Aurelia said. Aurelia always knew the places to hide. Aurelia was not afraid of fire. “I am burning already.”
Kissing Catherine: A Door Into The Afternoon
Their garden, like their secrets, was perfumed with the smell of roses.
The Morning Bell At Wrightwell Academy
Nora “Mitch” Mitchell is used to getting into trouble. But that was before fencing hour, before Miss Turner’s mathematics lessons, before she met Sarah Grace.
Suddenly And Hereafter
“I’ll take the navy blazer,” Emily said decisively. The shopgirl nodded wordlessly and began to wrap it. She had slender, patient hands. “Unless you think the green looked better,” Emily blurted out.
The shopgirl stopped wrapping. “The navy brings out your eyes,” she said carefully.
Evens I’m In, Odds You’re Out
The butterflies always died in Diana’s hands, no matter how carefully she held them.
The Market Girls
The copper pot had never been for sale before. But there had never been a day like today before. “You girls can count out and lock up without any help from me at the end of the day,” the shopkeeper had said. It was not a question.
The Conduct Of The Bow
“You’ve forgotten your cello,” Alice said. “For our lesson.”
Esther colored and started. “I’ll go home at once –”
“I didn’t bring mine either,” Alice said.
October With Alice
There was never a good enough reason to let her get out of bed. Because once Alice got up to leave, she never came back.
“Alice forgets quickly,” everyone had told her. “If it’s not in front of her eyes, it doesn’t exist.”
Alice lacked object permanence, which perhaps explained why that October felt like a dream someone else had had in another life. Now there was no reason for her to get out of bed, either.
The Gibson Girls Share A Parasol
They only talked about it once. “What is this?” Clara asked suddenly one afternoon. She looked at their hands as she spoke.
“There aren’t words for what this is,” Annette told her. “There couldn’t be.”
The Hottest Summer In Nova Scotia
“That’s a lovely dog,” she said. “My name’s Constance, by the way.”
“Mine’s Ruth,” the girl in the red hat said. “Hasn’t anyone taught you how to ride a horse properly yet?”
[Images via]
Tags: artwork, lesbians everywhere
Related Posts
Diana, Roman Goddess Of The Hunt, You’re Never Going To Find A Boyfriend This Way
All the Paintings Here Agree: A Comic
Mallory Explains Classic Works Of Art: The Oath Of The Horatii
Rococo Pastoral Paintings And The Opposite Of Marxism
Some People Eating Normally In Paintings, The Way People Eat
The Penitence Of Mary Magdalene, In Order Of Penitence
I feel like L.M. Montgomery wrote at LEAST half of these.
The last one’s K.M. Peyton, although I’m puzzled by the Canadian setting.
Yeah. Bosom friends, indeeeed. :3
I let out an utterly contented sigh upon finishing this. Yes. Yes, /please/.
i want to read all of these, but ESPECIALLY the summer of my first tambourine
Historical lesbian YA romance set in the last days of Pompeii? HERE JUST TAKE ALL MY DOLLARS.
With all the dystopian fiction out there, I’m surprised a YA author hasn’t gone historical and set an end-of-the-world story in Pompeii. (Surprised, also, disappointed. I want to read it.)
I have never wanted anything so much
I would have read every single one of these. Actually, would still now read every single one of these.
“The shopgirl stopped wrapping. “The navy brings out your eyes,” she said carefully.”
OH MY GOD
Just, wow, there is more sexual tension in that one line than every romance novel I’ve ever read combined. MALLORY.
I am a blue eyed Emily and I am HERE FOR THIS.
“The Summer Of My First Tambourine”
DON’T do that to me when I’m on the reference desk.
I keep meaning to get myself a tambourine to tambourine along to music in my car. I mean, I have maracas, but there are more tambourine songs than maraca songs. Wait, shit, I got another stick shift in December. Must I restrict Spoon’s “Kill The Moonlight” to long highway drives?
I am very much into Emily’s look. Just my damn luck again.
Yeah, Patricia Highsmith, Carson McCullers, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath…my manic pixie dream girls.
Speaking of mid-twentieth century that fifty-ish woman at the printer has got on a black and white houndstooth miniskirt and is wearing the hell out of it.
What woman? Where?
Sadly she’s left the branch.
I am now picturing:
1. a car with tambourine implanted where the horn normally is, so you can tambourine and drive at the same time
2. probably all librarians are reading The Toast at all times they’re at their desk; I know I have made brief eye contact with the desk librarian at my local branch and thought “She’s a Toastie.” If only she’d been displaying a copy of The Happiest Woman In The World, then I would know for sure.
oh crap “Toast-reading reference librarian glances up from monitor and makes eye contact with patron browsing New Releases” is probably a lesbian romance meet-cute
See why I’ve had to make peace with how frustrating my life is?
I mean, I definitely identify as a man but I think I’d make a good go of it as a lesbian. Such is life, huh? (Nope, you’re gonna be a weird-ass goy straight man http://grooveshark.com/s/License+To+Confuse/kpSpo…
Such is life. As a short-haired, clompy-boot-clad lady who got her share of “are you sure you like dudes?” OkCupid messages back in the days of dating, I sympathize.
Dang it I have to return/pick up some books tomorrow and I’m gonna be thinking about this as soon as I walk in the library
“short-haired, clompy-boot-clad lady”
You TEASE.
[drops handkerchief] i did staaaaage creeeew in high schooooool
“drama quirr”
I got hit by the rotating “My Fair Lady” set.
Definitely thought “what is THAT a euphemism for?” for a moment.
No, just drawl-ized.
The Happiest Woman in the World is the green carnation of the Toast world.
I am definitely NOT reading the Toast at the circ desk, I don’t know why anyone would think that, never.
Umm…I am a librarian…reading The Toast at my desk… *blush* I have the Happiest Woman on my notice board. Often I have to explain why I said ‘Oh Mallory..’ or similar out loud for no apparent reason.
Can Alice have cameos in all of these, like a lesbian version of Enoch Root?
Quite the unreliable narrator.
I love you for that reference.
Would read the shit out of The Summer Of My First Tambourine.
Coincidentally I ran into this tumblr of old paintings and photographs of covert lesbian relationships while sourcing images the other day: http://secretlesbians.tumblr.com/
There’s quite a few paintings in there that could belong in this collection.
“Gay people have been around for hundreds of years, they didn’t just pop up.”
“Hundreds of years? Try centuries.”
Thank you, Facebook search, for letting me find again that instance of Yahoo News comments having a progressive moment.
“Hundreds of years? Try centuries.”
Mansplaining at its purest.
welp, there goes my afternoon
Seriously. I just lost an hour and a half. But I am so pleased to learn about Dr. Lilian Cooper, who I feel could be the real-life inspiration for Dr. Mac.
“Don’t be silly,” said Constance, “I’m an amazon.”
“Hasn’t anyone taught you how to ride a horse properly yet?”
Ruth had no truck with faux Amazons.
BRB finding white pony moving to Nova Scotia despite crippling economic hardship immediately
Damn that cod-hoarding sumbitch Johnson!
Don’t do it. All ponies are evil.
“I am burning already.”
*fans self*
Also, I feel like the navy blazer woman could be a young Julia Child, who was her own kind of badass.
She was basically Peggy Carter.
Can Peggy Carter cook? If so, then I really have found my soul mate.
Mallory, you are a treasure.
I’m suddenly remembering “Sarah and Me and the Lady From the Sea” and its cover art: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514m7H1PSAL…
Nora “Mitch” Mitchell is the most YA novel-y thing I’ve read so far today, and I’m a YA librarian.
Please tell me this book, or some shadow form, exists.
Copper Pot Girl On The Left is giving me the textbook dyke smile, and also life.
Speaking of YA here’s the Animorphs sequel you all wanted. http://liartownusa.tumblr.com/image/104370854630
Really pretty sure that’s actually John Krasinski modeling for the cover of Suddenly and Hereafter, though.
Lesbian historical fiction is pretty much my favorite genre…
“There aren’t words for what this is,” Annette told her. “There couldn’t be.”
This simultaneously made me sigh in longing and brought tears to my eyes. God, yes.
Wait that's totally based on The Price of Salt, no?
EXCUSE ME http://www.cgfaonlineartmuseum.com/courbet/courbe…
Eustacia, Rosamond… how do you get the names so right every time???
“I didn’t bring mine either,” Alice said.
My hand literally darted to my neck and if I had pearls on I would be clutching them. Oh my.
“I didn’t bring mine either,” Alice said.
My hand literally darted to my neck and if I had pearls on I would be clutching them. Oh my.
Imagining an alternate ending to Annie On My Mind where Annie and Liza don’t get caught and they act out every singe one of these scenes.
Imagining an alternate ending to Annie On My Mind where Annie and Liza don't get caught and they act out every singe one of these scenes.
Can anyone name some of the artists who made these paintings? Especially blue blazer!!
It’s called ‘Schoolgirl’ and it’s by Percy Shakespeare: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Shakespeare
thank you !
It's called 'Schoolgirl' and it's by Percy Shakespeare: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Shakespeare
I clearly need to reinvest significant amounts of time into YA.
/fans self
DO WANT.
Oh LOOORD. Mallory, Mallory, Mallory. These are so deelish.
-joins giggling, approving Toasties chorus-
Man, that last one’s got a horse and TWO dogs and two girls making eye contact. It’s everything I have ever loved basically.
I read this while a big band arrangement of “Embraceable You” was playing on Pandora.
YES. YES TO ALL THINGS, FOREVER.
Ok now I’m feeling a burning desire for historical lesbian YA fiction. Reccomendations plz??