Book picks similar to
The Escape Artist by Judith Katz
queer
fiction
lgbt
historical-fiction
Eustace Chisholm and the Works
James Purdy - 1967
A seedy Depression-era boardinghouse in Chicago plays host to a game of emotional chairs (Guardian) in a novel initially condemned for its frank depiction of abortion, homosexuality, and life on the margins of American society."
In the Blood of the Greeks
Mary D. Brooks - 2005
The peaceful life of the town has given way to the chaos of war. Two girls, one Greek, the other German, come together in an unlikely union to save the lives of Jews targeted by the Nazis. Fourteen year old Zoe Lambros' faith in God is shattered after her mother's death at the hands of the German Commander. She determines to defy the enemy in every way she can--including a festering urge to kill the German Commander's daughter, Eva Muller. Eva Muller has a tortured past, and a secret, if revealed, will lead to certain death at the hands of her father. Despite knowing the risk, Eva is working with the village priest to help the Jews escape. With her activities closely observed, Eva needs help to continue the clandestine operation. Zoe Lambros is not who Eva has in mind but they have to put aside their mutual antipathy to each other and work together. They know that one wrong move will put an end to their lives.Awards:- Finalist Gay/Lesbian Fiction - International Book Awards 2015 - Finalist First Novel - IAN (Independent Author Network) Book Of The Year Awards 2015- Finalist Outstanding Historical Fiction - IAN (Independent Author Network) Book Of The Year Awards 2015
Cassandra at the Wedding
Dorothy Baker - 1962
At the beginning of this novel, she drives back to her family ranch in the foothills of the Sierras to attend the wedding of her identical twin, Judith, to a nice young doctor from Connecticut. Cassandra, however, is hell-bent on sabotaging the wedding. Dorothy Baker's entrancing tragicomic novella follows an unpredictable course of events in which her heroine appears variously as conniving, self-aware, pitiful, frenzied, absurd, and heartbroken—at once utterly impossible and tremendously sympathetic. Cassandra reckons with her complicated feelings about the sister who she feels owes it to her to be her alter ego; with her father, a brandy-soaked retired professor of philosophy; and with the ghost of her dead mother, as she struggles to come to terms with the only life she has. First published in 1962, Cassandra at the Wedding is a book of enduring freshness, insight, and verve. Like the fiction of Jeffrey Eugenides and Jhumpa Lahiri, it is the work of a master stylist with a profound understanding of the complexities of the heart and mind.
Fire and Water
Amanda Kayhart - 2020
No one knows this better than Diane Hollenbeck, who has the settlement papers and scars to prove it. Determined to salvage her life from the ashes, Diane starts fresh, beginning with a long sabbatical in New England. A retreat to her friends' lake house seems idyllic--to ignite her writing career, rediscover herself, and rekindle her confidence along the placid shores of Lake Champlain. Until Diane encounters her new neighbor--a sexy recluse with a strong and stormy personality. Now navigating the small island town and finding her much-needed solace is impossible. Conflict swells. And sparks erupt. But as Diane draws closer to this fiery acquaintance, as discovers there's more behind her neighbor's stinging flames--a shared loss and longing that fuses them together.
Grief
Andrew Holleran - 2006
to escape his previous life. What he finds there — in his handsome, solitary landlord; in the city's somber mood and sepulchral architecture; and in the strange and impassioned journals of Mary Todd Lincoln — shows him unexpected truths about America and loss.
The Sophie Horowitz Story
Sarah Schulman - 1984
This is definitely the scoop for Feminist News! Sophie sets out, armed with unanswered questions, meeting on her travels the eccentrics, the has-beens and the 'wanna-be's' of lower eastside New York. In no time at all Sophie finds herself caught up in a web of murder and intrigue. Will she triumph? Or will she end up in jail?
How Sweet the Sound
Evelyn Dar - 2018
After a summer spent connected at the hip, a trauma in Sienna’s home life separates the two. Twelve years later, their lives cross paths again, but the memory of their childhood friendship has long since faded. As the two teens get to know one another, they are struck by an unexplainable familiarity, and as their friendship deepens, something else also begins to blossom…
Falling For Her
Margaux Fox - 2019
Although thirty years old and disillusioned with the things she thought she believed in, she would never have imagined she would be lured into a hot affair with the dangerously attractive stranger Lyra. Her secret relationship with Lyra drags Jen into a web of lies and betrayal. When it ends in murder, Jen realises she is playing a dangerous game. Who is left to trust when Jen doesn’t even recognise herself anymore? A hot affair entangles a police officer in murder in this tightly woven mystery from exciting new author Margaux Fox. (This book was previously released by the same author, titled: Do You Love Me Enough?)
A Net for Small Fishes
Lucy Jago - 2021
Frances makes Anne her confidante, sweeping her into a glamorous and extravagant world, riven with bitter rivalry. As the women grow closer, each hopes to change her circumstances. Frances is trapped in a miserable marriage while loving another, and newly widowed Anne struggles to keep herself and her six children alive as she waits for a promised proposal. A desperate plan to change their fortunes is hatched--but navigating the Jacobean court is a dangerous game and one misstep could cost them everything.
The Caretaker's Daughter
Gabrielle Goldsby - 2003
Despite the barriers of class and sensibility, Lady Bronte and her groundskeeper Addison find first friendship and then something far deeper on the sweeping estates of Markby. Classic Romance at its most breathtaking.
The Summer We Got Free
Mia McKenzie - 2012
Once loved and respected in their community and in their church, they are ostracized by their neighbors, led by their church leader, and a seventeen-year feud between the Delaneys and the church ensues. Ava and her family are displaced from the community even as they continue to live within it, trapped inside their creaky, shadowy old house.When a mysterious woman arrives unexpectedly for a visit, her presence stirs up the past and ghosts and other restless things begin to emerge. And something is reignited in Ava: the indifferent woman she has become begins to give way to the wild girl, and the passionate artist, she used to be. But not without a struggle that threatens her well-being and, ultimately, her life.Mia McKenzie is a winner of the Astraea Foundation's Writers Fund Award and the Leeway Foundation's Transformation Award. She describes herself as "a black feminist and a freaking queer." Her work has been recommended by The Root, Colorlines, Feministing, Angry Asian Man, and Crunk Feminist Collective, among others. She is the creator of the blog BlackGirlDangerous.org.
Alcestis
Katharine Beutner - 2010
Taking center stage in this debut novel is Alcestis, the fabled ‘good wife’ who sacrificed herself in order to save her much loved husband, King Admetus. In this reworking of the classic legend, a decidedly more complex and restless Alcestis is provided with an intriguing backstory involving her childhood and the untimely death of her favorite sister, Hippothoe. When Admetus is too cowardly to face his own death, Alcestis, hopeful of reuniting with Hippothoe, agrees to take his place in the Underworld. It is here in death that Alcestis wrestles with the true nature of love and loss, as she falls under the seductive spell of Persephone...” --Margaret Fuller, Booklist
Four Steps
Wendy Hudson - 2016
She has her farm in the Scottish countryside, and the self-imposed seclusion suits her until a crime that has haunted her for years tears through the calm and shatters the fragile peace she'd finally managed to find.Lori Hunter's greatest love is the mountains. They're her escape from the constant hustle and bustle of everyday life. Growing up was neither traditional nor easy for Lori, but now she's beginning to realise she's settled for both. A dead-end relationship and little to look forward to. Her solution when the suffocation sets in? Run for the hills.A chance encounter in the mountains of the Scottish Highlands leads Alex and Lori into a whirlwind of heartache and a fight for survival as they build a formidable bond that will be tested to its ultimate limits.
The Wives of Bath
Susan Swan - 1993
Internationally acclaimed, Lost and Delirious, is based on the bestselling novel, directed by Lea Pool and starring .It is 1963. Mary Bradford (a.k.a. Mouse) is thirteen when she is shipped off to Bath Ladies College. Mouse, motherless, a hunchback, enters the school feeling very much on its margins, determined never to fit in with the "normal" girls, never to succumb to the expectations of the elder role models: the spinster teachers, the elegant mothers of her schoolmates. She chooses her allies carefully: her hump, whom she calls Alice, and John F. Kennedy, to whom she writes long letters asking and giving advice.But the school itself is stranger than Mouse ever could have imagined. A secret underworld of tunnels beneath the buildings, stolen love letters, King Kong worship, and ghostlike apparitions - a world where young girls sometimes refuse to be simply "good little girls" - all lead Mouse into experiences, both terrifying and exciting, of an alternate reality for her sex. What begins as experimentation spins out of control, ending in a death that only Mouse can fully comprehend.Susan Swan has created in Mouse Bradford - wise, witty and vulnerable - an unforgettable heroine. The Wives of Bath is a novel that both moves the heart an astonishes the imagination.The internationally acclaimed film adaptation of the novel, Lost and Delirious, was released in 2001. Directed by Lea Pool, starring Piper Perabo, Jessica Paré, and Mischa Barton. Available on DVD and in movie stores.