Now You See Me: Lesbian Life Stories

by Jane Traies (Editor)

Now You See Me is a collection of powerful personal accounts which bring to light previously undocumented lesbian lives. Jane Traies has been recording the life histories of older women who identify as lesbian for nearly a decade and the narratives in Now You See Me are drawn from this archive of ‘hidden histories’. The stories are told in the women’s own words and vividly recreate a time when being lesbian meant either hiding your true identity or paying the price for breaking society’s rules. The personal is still political in this moving and inspiring book.

Contains 20 fascinating life stories, commentary from the editor, and black and white photographs.

Genres: Queer, Nonfiction, LGBT, Lesbian, Memoir, History, Biography

256 pages, Paperback

Published August 6, 2018

About the author

Jane Traies is the author of The Lives of Older Lesbians and a number of other publications in the field of aging and sexuality. As Jay Taverner, she was also the joint author (alongside Jacky Bratton) of the lesbian historical novels Rebellion, Hearts and Minds and Something Wicked.

Reviews

[Myrthe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is it: probably my favourite book I'll read in 2019. My girlfriend told me she'd buy me a book from Gay's the Word on our trip to London, and I saw this one and knew this was going to be the one! The individual stories vary tremendously and it is incredibly important to hear the voices of lesbians from an older generation. I would recommend this book to any person interested in lgbt history from an honest perspective of those who lived before us!

[Eloise Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genuinely the most life-affirming read. I laughed out loud, I cried, I wanted to hug each and every woman who shared their story. I’ve learnt so much from these wonderful lesbians and they make me feel so proud to be who I am. The stories foster such a sense of connection and community, whilst each still maintains their own unique voice and perspective. And they are not just for lesbians !!! They each say so much about love and hope and resilience that anyone reading would benefit. I really truly wish I could thank them <3

[Rohase Piercy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over 400 women responded to Dr Jane Traies' questionnaire asking older lesbians to reveal something about their lives, both past and present, for her doctoral thesis; over fifty agreed to be interviewed in greater depth, and I had the privilege of typing up several of those interviews. Twenty of them are included in this fascinating book, showing the remarkable variety of upbringings, social and religious affiliations, joys, tragedies, relationship patterns and levels of prejudice experienced by lesbians born during or just after WWII. It is divided into sections tackling such subjects as lifelong caution/invisibility, butch/femme stereotypes, identity and politics, husbands and children, old age and dementia, as experienced first-hand by these wonderful women. Some stories are of course extremely sad; some are joyful and life-affirming. Some women either drifted or were forced into marriage and motherhood before coming to terms with their lesbian identities, some had 'always known' right from their schooldays and have never looked back! Some were cruelly rejected by their families, some were supported by their families, some never told their families who they really were. It's an amazing foray into what has hitherto been largely unexplored territory - LGBT social studies have tended to concentrate on gay men and younger lesbians - and Jane Traies has done wonderful work in bringing these stories out of the closet and into the open. I defy you not to laugh, cry, and be moved by these women's experiences.

[evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

so happy to have found this! (Also v excited to see the hometown mentioned)

[Liselot · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful, wonderful book. Broke my heart and fixed it up at the same time. This might be a necessary read for any young queer woman today.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an amazing read - so many different stories, with ups and downs and moments of joy and despair.

It's so reassuring to read accounts by older lesbians and to hear about all their gay and lesbian friends and know that we have indeed always been here.

These histories are important and should be preserved, so I'm really glad this book exists and does that.

[Adelaide · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely heartwarming book. Gives me hope. As with people some of the stories you relate with more than others, but it helps give a perspective that lots of people can go through similar things in life and also from very different angles.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastically honest, very human selection of life stories. This book will undoubtedly be shelved in the "LGBT history" section of bookshops. It should be in the "general history" section as well. Reading this, anyone of any sexual orientation will be able to understand the impact of laws, societal attitudes, financial discrimination, age discrimination, gender expectations (including the overwhelmingly female burden of family care) etc on ordinary people. The editor/researcher is never too heavy-handed, but points out the impact of various issues the interviewees touch on.

[Brigid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is truly so lovely to read, especially because I annotated the whole thing so I could give it to a friend of mine who is also a lesbian. I found so many parts of this book where I was being reminded of my own story or stories of people that I know and it was truly a delight to get the chance to hear about the experiences of all of these women. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I would have liked to hear slightly more diverse stories from Britains from all around the world. From what I remember, the only Black British lesbian in this story didn't even have many relationships and was fairly asexual. But otherwise it was lovely. Especially Pauline and Hilary's story.

[Bybyberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book and its stories mean the world to me. There's so little lesbian representation, and I always feel like I don't know enough about my community, especially its history, because so much has been taboo, hidden, lost. So it's beyond special to be able to read about all these wonderful women and to find the universal in their individual experiences. I don't think I've ever read about, or seen, long-lasting lesbian relationships, and it filled me with such queer joy! Also absolutely obsessed with how messy it could be sometimes, the cheating, the forgiving, the lust... God I just love lesbians <3

[Ella Fradgley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was unbelievably touching and profound to read. It is beautiful, sad, funny, playful, impactful and more, as eclectic in the feelings it gives as the variety of experiences told by the older lesbians whose lives are explored in the book. While we may think often about the history of the Queer community, seeing how those who lived through the 1940s - the present day reflect on their past and the new challenges they find in the present based of off the specific times they have lived through was eye opening in so many ways. I would recommend that everyone read this book!

[Lily Worfolk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow; a beautiful and varied collection of lesbian life stories which evoked a lot of emotions whilst reading.
I liked how Jane compiled the stories thematically whilst allowing plenty of space for each woman’s distinct and individual stories to be told.
It made me mourn for all the lesbian life stories that have been lost throughout history, but I hope it inspires others to produce further complications.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very valuable book about the lives of older lesbians. Fascinating to read about, but after a few stories, they sort of blended into each other. I could've done with 5 stories instead of 35, but I recognize the worth for all those individuals to have their story recorded. I'm glad the final story gave a positive swing to the book.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smiled and cried my way through this book, absolutely wonderful collection of lesbian oral history and old pictures<3 looking forward to making my way through the “further reading list” provided at the back!

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

just some research for my phd but actually ended up properly reading into it, even the stories that probably weren’t too useful for my research but still interesting!!!!!! would recommend to anyone, i love hearing bout the lives of older lesbians <33333

[Guetta.Ronigmail.Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible testimony of previously untold stories, from some of the most invisible people in our society.

[Frankie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Amber Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful.

[Vonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

There’s something so reassuring about reading this book. I felt connected to these women through details and experiences — and a lot of the time, I felt emotional.

[Jade Belcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and emotional. A great heart warming book of enduring love and lives well lived!

[Meg Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

love

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

🥹

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very moving collection of life histories from lesbian-identifying women. It was interesting to see some of the themes around non-monogamy and life-spanning relationships that came out across the collection, and I cried so many times! However this did seem a rather homogenous collection in it's whiteness and would have love to see more racially diverse lesbian experiences included.

[Maeve · Rating 5 out of 5]

intriguing

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

made me lesbian

[AFM · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t stopped recommending this book to others. It’s currently with my sister. Truly lovely.