Forbidden Lives: LGBT Histories from Wales

by Norena Shopland

Forbidden Lives is a fascinating collection of portraits and discussions that aims to populate LGBT gaps in the history of Wales, a much neglected part of Welsh heritage. In it Norena Shopland reviews the reasons for this neglect while outlining the activity behind the recent growth of the LGBT profile here. She also surveys LGBT people and their activity as far back as Giraldus Cambrensis’ Journey Through Wales in the twelfth century where he reports on ‘bearded women’ and other hermaphrodites. There is still plenty of work to do, as chapters on the responses to Pride in Wales and the first gay play, We All Fall Down , clearly show. But the stories of the people portrayed in the book are less likely to be the LGBT community has moved from living forbidden lives to a place largely less forbidding. Norena Shopland helps us understand the struggle which achieved these changes.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer

248 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Lauren (WesterDrumlins)]

While it took me from the end of March to the end of Semptember to finally finish this, it was definitely an interesting read and involved lots of people I'd never heard of which I like to find in queer non-fiction. However, the lack of editing really took me out of the flow of each account, and most likely contributed to the reason it took me so long to read (though I do understand that independent publishers simply don't have the same resources, be it time or money, for the same level of editing as the biggest publishing houses). I'd still recommend this, especially as a starting point for further reading/research, but would keep my previous point in mind. I am, however, very intrigued to read Norena Shopland's new book.

Content warnings include:
Homophobia, transphobia, legal discrimination, outing, suicide (and suggested murder)

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, engaging, 25 short stories of LGBT life told through people or events such as the first Pride in Wales or the mainstream social and political reaction to HIV/AIDS in the 1980s.

Unlike a lot of "LGBT" material, it covers all of the LGBT strands (with some reflection on how we put modern labels on people long gone, such as the tendency to claim as gay people who there is strong evidence were bisexual).

[Dinesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot - some chapters had me laughing while others had me skim-reading. I think that's just the nature of a history book covering such a range of time periods. It was affirming to read about LGBTQ+ Welsh people and this book has been a starting point for getting me interested in learning about minority histories. When describing the personalities of some of the people, I was impressed by how in-depth the descriptions were. I also appreciated that the author does not assume a persons sexuality/gender - but rather wrote about how their life was queer, allowing the reader to have their own reflections.

[T.A. Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read, and the book was well constructed with its path from the past to the near present. The connections between Queer Welsh history and wider UK/World history are very interesting, and overall I enjoyed reading this book. Occassionally, as with most history books, get a little bogged down in stating facts and figures, but it's a very easy read overall.
My only real complaint is that the book ends on a rather sudden flat note.
You should definitely read this book.

[Will · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good choice of stories, written in fairly slapdash style, and possibly no editing. Dear Seren: I'll sub-edit for free books and I know the difference between whose and who's

[Dan Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fascinating to hear about these people’s lives, but I struggled with the writing style.

[teleri]

i wanted to finish this SO BAD but it was just the same couple stories over and over and it was repetitive and just not worth my time :(((

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important stories. From a range of eras. Some are based on first hand accounts, some rely more on speculation. That in itself speaks volumes of the fear and prejudice with which too many have had to live.