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Love Alters: Lesbian Stories
An anthology of 29 modern lesbian short stories compiled by Emma Donoghue.
With this anthology, honoured on first publication as a Lambda Literary Award finalist, Emma Donoghue offers an eloquent and timely definition of the modern lesbian short story.
Breaking out beyond North American writer, she assembles an impressively broad array of twenty-nine writers from South Africa to Trinidad, from Australia to Ireland, and from Jamaica to New Zealand. The greater international range is evident not just in subject matter, but in style, too: the writers have little in common other than that they have written on lesbian themes.
The intention was not to compile a 'Best of' collection; the focus is very much on new stories rather than those already much-anthologised. Well-known authors are represented, but not by their best-known work, and widely anthologised authors make way for less familiar names.
Chronologically, the focus is on the modern side of the watershed marked by the June 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York and the ensuing Gay Liberation and Women's Liberation movements.
Importantly though, these are stories that read like stories. The first section, 'Child's Play' deals with the taboo topic of the sexuality of young girls; 'Present Tense' is concerned with contemporary adult life; while 'Family Values' reclaims that term from right-wing fundamentalists by embracing very different angles on family life. 'Past Times' reflects the burgeoning cultural confidence evident in the growing genre of lesbian historical fiction, while the final, very eclectic 'Possibilities' points to new tendencies in lesbian fiction at the millennium, exploring beyond the boundaries of naturalism.
The anthology includes stories by Dorothy Allison, Madelyn Arnold, Rebecca Brown, Anne Cameron, Christine Crow, Jane DeLynn, Elise D'Haene, Emma Donoghue, Mary Dorcey, Marion Douglas, Patricia Duncker, Dale Gunthorp, Susan Hampton, Jane Harris, Annamarie Jagose, Aileen La Tourette, Tanith Lee, Jenifer Levin, Anna Livia, Elizabeth A. Lynn, Ingrid Macdonald, Sara Maitland, Shani Mootoo, Sigrid Nielsen, Jane Rule, Ali Smith, Michelene Wandor, Marnie Woodrow and Shay Youngblood.
With this anthology, honoured on first publication as a Lambda Literary Award finalist, Emma Donoghue offers an eloquent and timely definition of the modern lesbian short story.
Breaking out beyond North American writer, she assembles an impressively broad array of twenty-nine writers from South Africa to Trinidad, from Australia to Ireland, and from Jamaica to New Zealand. The greater international range is evident not just in subject matter, but in style, too: the writers have little in common other than that they have written on lesbian themes.
The intention was not to compile a 'Best of' collection; the focus is very much on new stories rather than those already much-anthologised. Well-known authors are represented, but not by their best-known work, and widely anthologised authors make way for less familiar names.
Chronologically, the focus is on the modern side of the watershed marked by the June 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York and the ensuing Gay Liberation and Women's Liberation movements.
Importantly though, these are stories that read like stories. The first section, 'Child's Play' deals with the taboo topic of the sexuality of young girls; 'Present Tense' is concerned with contemporary adult life; while 'Family Values' reclaims that term from right-wing fundamentalists by embracing very different angles on family life. 'Past Times' reflects the burgeoning cultural confidence evident in the growing genre of lesbian historical fiction, while the final, very eclectic 'Possibilities' points to new tendencies in lesbian fiction at the millennium, exploring beyond the boundaries of naturalism.
The anthology includes stories by Dorothy Allison, Madelyn Arnold, Rebecca Brown, Anne Cameron, Christine Crow, Jane DeLynn, Elise D'Haene, Emma Donoghue, Mary Dorcey, Marion Douglas, Patricia Duncker, Dale Gunthorp, Susan Hampton, Jane Harris, Annamarie Jagose, Aileen La Tourette, Tanith Lee, Jenifer Levin, Anna Livia, Elizabeth A. Lynn, Ingrid Macdonald, Sara Maitland, Shani Mootoo, Sigrid Nielsen, Jane Rule, Ali Smith, Michelene Wandor, Marnie Woodrow and Shay Youngblood.
496 pages, Paperback
First published May 16, 2013
17 people are currently reading
349 people want to read
About the author
Emma Donoghue
78 books13.2k followersGrew up in Ireland, 20s in England doing a PhD in eighteenth-century literature, since then in Canada. Best known for my novel, film and play ROOM, also other contemporary and historical novels and short stories, non-fiction, theatre and middle-grade novels.
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December 5, 2013IMPORTANT- This book is retitled and second publication of the Emma Donoghue edited anthology known as The Mammoth Book of Lesbian Stories. This is the exact same collection of stories but under a new title and with a vastly different cover.
Just wanted to share that because I mistakenly bought this only to start reading and realize that I already had the original. So readers and collectors of lesbian short stories and anthologies- be aware.
Just wanted to share that because I mistakenly bought this only to start reading and realize that I already had the original. So readers and collectors of lesbian short stories and anthologies- be aware.
February 11, 2021
“𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺.”
In this short story collection, Donoghue assembles stories from nearly 30 authors, including Ali Smith, Dale Gunthorp, Michelene Wandor and Shani Mootoo. The stories are set all over the world and contain a variety of genres, time periods and concepts, but they are all united by their lesbian themes. Like most short story collections, these were a mixed bag. The ones I liked I LOVED- some of them were really beautiful, gripping and well told- but others didn’t capture me in the same way. The ones I liked I will absolutely treasure though.
In this short story collection, Donoghue assembles stories from nearly 30 authors, including Ali Smith, Dale Gunthorp, Michelene Wandor and Shani Mootoo. The stories are set all over the world and contain a variety of genres, time periods and concepts, but they are all united by their lesbian themes. Like most short story collections, these were a mixed bag. The ones I liked I LOVED- some of them were really beautiful, gripping and well told- but others didn’t capture me in the same way. The ones I liked I will absolutely treasure though.
December 17, 2019
I'm going to DNF this at page 172 for the simple reason I put it down a week ago and I've had no desire whatsover to pick it up again. I enjoyed some of the stories, but there were also a lot of stories I felt were just okay. Of course this is an anthology of different writers, so what you get is always a mixed bag, and I may be missing some great stories, but I also feel life is too short to pressure yourself to read books you feel underwhelmed by.
November 23, 2024
Started and finished date - 20.11.24 to 22.11.24.
My rating - Three Stars.
I liked this book but I didn't love it. The atmosphere was fine and the writing was okay. The paced of plot was bit slow and I would have this book to be shorter also I like some of stories but I didn't like other stories. the cover of book was stunning. The characters was okay but they needed be flash out bit more.
My rating - Three Stars.
I liked this book but I didn't love it. The atmosphere was fine and the writing was okay. The paced of plot was bit slow and I would have this book to be shorter also I like some of stories but I didn't like other stories. the cover of book was stunning. The characters was okay but they needed be flash out bit more.
April 25, 2024
With Self-Deliverance by Elise D'Haene as an oulier: ☆☆☆☆☆!! I love that story. It almost made me cry and I still think about it, weeks later.
(Honorable mention for The Tale of the Kiss by Emma Donoghue. ☆☆☆ liked that one quite a bit.)
(Honorable mention for The Tale of the Kiss by Emma Donoghue. ☆☆☆ liked that one quite a bit.)
January 18, 2019
LOVED this. So many wonderful stories!
January 16, 2022
A good diverse collection of stories with an international flavour. Something for everyone.
March 22, 2023
A collection of short stories - Some were great but as a collection I wanted more.
August 13, 2016
This is a quick recommendation of the Short Story Anthology: Love Alters: Lesbian Stories.
This is a really great varied collection (over 30 short stories), with an eclectic set of writers and styles. I felt like the collection was very well put together and grouped into subjects, it gave the stories a really great flow. It also kept me reading it in the intended order which I don't normally do when I'm reading short story collections.
It has also introduced me to a lot of writers that I hadn't previously heard of/read (Shay Youngblood, Shani Mootoo) as well as showing me another side of some famous writers work, (Ali Smith, Tanith Lee and Emma Donoghue).
This is a really great varied collection (over 30 short stories), with an eclectic set of writers and styles. I felt like the collection was very well put together and grouped into subjects, it gave the stories a really great flow. It also kept me reading it in the intended order which I don't normally do when I'm reading short story collections.
It has also introduced me to a lot of writers that I hadn't previously heard of/read (Shay Youngblood, Shani Mootoo) as well as showing me another side of some famous writers work, (Ali Smith, Tanith Lee and Emma Donoghue).
August 29, 2013
I haven't read all of this book but I'm jumping around reading as much as possible. It's so refreshing to read stories that are just about straight people. And I get tired of looking for stories with characters who are non-monosexual(or behave in such a way) that aren't simply mixed gender love triangles or the non-mono character breaking up a relationship. This book has a wide variety of stories in which certain characters break plenty of taboos. I would absolutely suggest anyone looking for lesbian/non-mono romance give this book a shot.
November 25, 2013
Lovely collection of short stories! Not all of them are great, but most were really good and there were some true gems. I enjoyed it a lot.
September 13, 2014
It was ok I guess it was something which I read I. small amounts the short stories were pretty realistic!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews