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Through the Hourglass: Lesbian Historical Romance
Through the Sixteen stories spanning twenty centuries of lesbian love, with vivid historical settings and passion resonating all the way to today. Featuring trailblazing authors Ann Bannon and Lee Lynch, as well as wide ranging stories by Jean Copeland, R.G. Emanuelle, Allison Fradkin, Patty G. Henderson, Heather Rose Jones, Megan McFerren, Cara Patterson, Aliisa Percival, Doreen Perrine, Priscilla Scott Rhoades, Susan Smith, Lexy Wealleans, Connie Wilkins, and MJ Williamz.
- GenresRomanceLGBTShort Stories
314 pages, Paperback
First published November 16, 2015
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349 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 3, 2016
i got this for free through kindle unlimited, which was a nice find!
good:
- for the most part, these all have positive endings, though some may fall more under hopeful or bittersweet.
- this includes an excerpt of beebo brinker! that was a nice surprise.
- there are nice scenes/mentions of recognizing each other as lesbians through history; many of the characters in these stories have histories with women and with lesbian social circles--it's not all "first time i've ever liked a girl" stories
- "with ball due respect" is delightfully packed with softball metaphors/slang for E V E R Y T H I N G. it could have really been annoying or hard to understand, but it matched with the feel and pace of the story and instead was just really fun.
- this anthology has a lot of respect for older lesbians. some of the stories contain brief footnotes/afterwords about the kind of legacy the protagonist left. "honeydew moon" is narrated entirely by an elderly lesbian (still with her wife) and talks about how finding an older lesbian couple as friends when they were younger was so important to seeing their own future. yeah i may have gotten a little misty.
not so great:
- stories are all white, taking place in the united states and europe (england, greece, and italy). really, this is historical fiction but you couldn't include one non-white person?
- some of the stories felt repetitive after a while; young women, with some difference in station, fall unexpectedly in love until the expectation that one marries a man comes between them.
- the shortcoming (pun intended) of all short story anthologies, for me, is that you can't craft really plotty, complex stories, which is what i enjoy more; but that's the fault of the medium, not these writers.
in all, while i wasn't blown away by this, it was a light enjoyable read and i'm glad i found it.
good:
- for the most part, these all have positive endings, though some may fall more under hopeful or bittersweet.
- this includes an excerpt of beebo brinker! that was a nice surprise.
- there are nice scenes/mentions of recognizing each other as lesbians through history; many of the characters in these stories have histories with women and with lesbian social circles--it's not all "first time i've ever liked a girl" stories
- "with ball due respect" is delightfully packed with softball metaphors/slang for E V E R Y T H I N G. it could have really been annoying or hard to understand, but it matched with the feel and pace of the story and instead was just really fun.
- this anthology has a lot of respect for older lesbians. some of the stories contain brief footnotes/afterwords about the kind of legacy the protagonist left. "honeydew moon" is narrated entirely by an elderly lesbian (still with her wife) and talks about how finding an older lesbian couple as friends when they were younger was so important to seeing their own future. yeah i may have gotten a little misty.
not so great:
- stories are all white, taking place in the united states and europe (england, greece, and italy). really, this is historical fiction but you couldn't include one non-white person?
- some of the stories felt repetitive after a while; young women, with some difference in station, fall unexpectedly in love until the expectation that one marries a man comes between them.
- the shortcoming (pun intended) of all short story anthologies, for me, is that you can't craft really plotty, complex stories, which is what i enjoy more; but that's the fault of the medium, not these writers.
in all, while i wasn't blown away by this, it was a light enjoyable read and i'm glad i found it.
December 13, 2017
Enjoyable anthology with a number of standout stories. I particularly liked Heather Rose Jones' "Where My Heart Goes," Susan Smith's "Saffron and Fennel," Connie Wilkins' "The Bridge" and Allison Fradkin's "With Ball Due Respect." The stories cover a wide range of time periods and locations, which makes for an entertaining read. I would have liked to have seen more cultural diversity represented, as pretty much all the stories are about white women, as far I could tell. It was nice to see an excerpt of Ann Brannon's "Beebo Brinker" as well as a new to me story by Lee Lynch. So recommended, with the above caveat about the lack of diversity.
June 5, 2018
A really lovely, high quality collection, will definitely revisit at some point and read more work from a lot of these authors.
The reason I did not give this wonderful collection a five is because the stories could be far less white/Europe & America centric. I also thought the introduction was a little illogical, yes it's nice to take a break from the busy world and escape into the past, but how much is the past an escape when you inevitably have to talk about the things queer woman have had to sacrifice (which is a theme in many of the stories).
The reason I did not give this wonderful collection a five is because the stories could be far less white/Europe & America centric. I also thought the introduction was a little illogical, yes it's nice to take a break from the busy world and escape into the past, but how much is the past an escape when you inevitably have to talk about the things queer woman have had to sacrifice (which is a theme in many of the stories).
January 8, 2021
Loved the changing times
These stories are about women who find love with another woman in different eras and in many cases kept their love in spite of the hardships.
One story is particularly my favorite “My Elizabeth” by M J Williams. It takes place during WW2 and is about a young woman who goes to work at airplane factory. Being an older woman I have always been amazed at how we, women, managed to find each other at a time when it was essential we had to hide who attracted us and what we had to do to avoid marriage.
These stories are about women who find love with another woman in different eras and in many cases kept their love in spite of the hardships.
One story is particularly my favorite “My Elizabeth” by M J Williams. It takes place during WW2 and is about a young woman who goes to work at airplane factory. Being an older woman I have always been amazed at how we, women, managed to find each other at a time when it was essential we had to hide who attracted us and what we had to do to avoid marriage.
April 20, 2016
THROUGH THE HOURGLASS is an anthology on the write side of history, and the superlative Sapphic storytellers in this collection present readers with one L of an en-gay-ging history lesson. In her own way, each author has contributed a story that elevates and celebrates us, refines and redefines us -- and reminds us that there's no time like the present to take pride in our past.
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June 4, 2016I'm not posting a proper review because I'm a contributor to the anthology and feel that would be inappropriate. If you're interested, I did write up my thoughts on it on my blog. http://hrj.livejournal.com/586013.html
March 5, 2016
Excellent and thought provoking.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews