Martha Moody

by Susan Stinson

At once a love story and a lush comic masterpiece, Martha Moody is a speculative western which embraces the ordinary and gritty details — as well as the magic — of women's lives in the old west.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Westerns, Queer, Romance, Lesbian, LGBT

166 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1995

About the author

Susan Stinson's novels are Venus of Chalk (2004), Fat Girl Dances with Rocks(1994) and Martha Moody(1995). Spider In A Tree is her novel in progress. Belly Songs, a collection of poetry and lyric essays, was published in 1993.

Her work -- which has appeared in The Kenyon Review, The Seneca Review, Curve, Lambda Book Report and The Women's Review of Books -- has received the Benjamin Franklin Award in Fiction as well as a number of fellowships. She was born in Texas, raised in Colorado, and now lives in Northampton, MA.

Susan has given workshops and been a featured speaker at Dartmouth College, Amherst College, Wheaton College, Hampshire College, University of Massachusetts, and Smith College, as well as conferences such as the National Women's Studies Association, Nolose, NAAFA, OutWrite, and Saints and Sinners Literary Festival.


Honors
Grants and fellowships from the Vogelstein Foundation, Millay Colony, Blue Mountain Center, Money for Women/​Barbara Deming Fund, The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation and others. Venus of Chalk was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist.

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

An Old West story of a farmer's wife in love with the woman who runs the small town general store, which I accept sounds lethal. We never get a strong sense of Martha--we mostly see her as the combination Johnny Appleseed/Venus of Willendorf figure of Amanda's imagination--but this isn't a romance, it's more a fantastical meditation on the life of a woman of profound and complex feelings stuck in a misogynist time with a narrow-souled husband in a godbothering tiny town, and how she emerges/is forced from that cocoon in part by writing stories. There's a fantastical shimmer to it, but also a lot of very routine detail about the hard repetitive slog of frontier life. (There is no hint of Native Americans existing or having existed anywhere in this book: I don't know if this is an intentional omission.)

I was impressed by it but didn't love it. It's very good on women's stifling lives and on the physicality (strong fat-celebration vibes throughout), and I think if you're into description and atmosphere and creation of a vivid world, you'd love it. I found I needed more to happen, but admittedly since lockdown I've really struggled with stories of stuckness, so perhaps that's it.

[Nadine in California · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. I liked the first half of this book best, even though the plot didn't really kick in until the second half. What I loved about the first half is that I got to simply spend time with four people I enjoyed, Amanda, Martha, Clara, and Ruth, and one cow, Miss Alice. I didn't need them to do anything but live their ordinary, daily lives and interact with each other. I was getting a heartwarming "Little Women" vibe - plus some Sapphic love written in a way that didn't change that vibe. In fact, I think this was the first time I've read a treatment of sex that didn't seem ridiculous and overwrought. The men seemed to exist just as plot devices and Amanda's husband made no sense to me as a character, but I also didn't need them (although I suppose the plot did). While the second half of the book brought narrative tension and drama, I would have preferred to meander along pleasantly with my five friends. That would have been a shorter book, but a more satisfying one for me. Although my happy came back at the end :) Love, love the cover of the Small Beer Press edition.

[Christina Dongowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this! I stumbled on it by chance: It was part of a pride month bundle I bought, and I was drawn to read it because of the beautiful pink cover with the angel cow. (An angel cow does play a significant role in the story.) I've never heard of it before, which is a shame: I've learned by now that Martha Moody was one of the very first lesbian / sapphic western / pioneer novels ever published. A milestone in the story of queer and women's fiction. (So, of course you never read about it at the usual suspects.) Anyway, I'm super glad it found me. It's the story of two women who have to come to terms with the fact that they're very different from what their community expects of them, and that they're very different to the people they thought they were. Stinson brilliantly conveys the exhilaration, the pain, the sorrow and the fun this means for all people in the community. And it's simultaneously the story about discovering your creativity, the relationship between difference and creativity, and how writing and reading wild stories opens up your mind. This sounds like run of the mill reading is so empowering-blah, but it's actually not that, and that's because of the stunningly beautiful language of the novel. How Stinson writes about the sensations, the joy and pains of being a body, of living in a world full of sensations, is really marvelous.

[monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really liked the atmosphere and the characters who felt real in their flaws and complexities. i think this is not a book i would usually read, but i’m really glad i did. it felt to me in parts like a local legend or a tale that’d be told over many times. i had a bit of a problem with the writing style, but once i used to it, i really enjoyed it!
i’m only mad that the cow died when there were so many people who could have died instead.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1995, Martha Moody, the magical realism Sapphic Western romance, is now available in digital form. The thing with novels set in the past is that they don’t really date, like some 25 year old books might. They just kind of do their own thing. In this case, they tell the story of Amanda Linger, a sturdily built wife to a somewhat abusive man, living a quiet childless life in a dusty frontier town. Ok maybe that’s a cowboy movie exaggeration, but it’s certainly dusty and unexciting, a middle of nowhere place on the way to somewhere, a place the California bound wagons passed by long ago and off of one of those wagons Martha Moody stepped off and settled down, founding the town and becoming a proprietress of its general store.
So Martha Moody in all her voluptuous magnificence (which is the politest more literary way to describe morbid obesity) becomes a source of fascination, obsession and desire for Ms. Linger. And sure enough, it is reciprocated and the two begin a clandestine affair, but given the time and the place and the general smalltownmindedness that remains pervasive throughout the region all this time later, it isn’t easy or at times even plausible.
This leaves Amanda with a lot of time to actively contemplate her life, so she makes changes, taking really dramatic steps to improve it. One of those involves venturing into fiction and becoming a published author of unconventional Western stories featuring Martha Moody or at times Amanda’s other plus sized beloved, a bovine companion named Miss Alice or some combination of both. These stories bring Amanda fortune and Martha fame, but this was always about love, it’s a love story. A butter slicked one, don’t ask, just read. And you do want those two to get together, settle down, invest in some heavy duty well made weight bearing furniture…but seriously, seriously, it’s a good story with an excellent ending. Definitely one of the most unconventional Westerns I’ve ever read. I enjoyed the actual realism of it, much more so than the magical realism Amanda’s stories infused their lives with. It was just such an interesting compelling representation of a certain way of life in a certain time and place.
The fatness seemed almost fetishized, though. In a weird way. In a way somewhat reminiscent of Melissa Broder’s Milkfed, only that was metaphorical and here it’s a more matter of fact thing, like a statement. You’d think proudly fat is a recent American thing, not a well established mentality from the cowboy age. So it’s somewhat…disturbing at times, all of that rippling flesh and folds, over and over. But to each their own, this might have been some sort of a fat lesbian manifesto thing for the author, who knows.
Other than that, for me it worked, engaging and entertaining throughout. It read somewhat slowly for the economic page count, but it read nicely. Recommended.

[Zach Weinberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sensuous and sensual; strange and welcoming; a true balm to my Ali Hazelwood-fevered brow

[Jen Michalski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this for the most part, but it it felt packed at times with fluff, rather than action or story. I also wondered about the narrator's relationship with Christianity, since it was and continued to be a big part of her life after falling for Martha. Did she think she was going to hell? Did she care? Also, I felt the relationship started rather quickly and didn't feel a spark between Amanda and Martha, mostly because I had a hard time understanding Amanda's character and motivations at times. Finally, there was a lack of tension in areas that you think there would be more--the town's reaction to Amanda and Martha, specifically. I would've thought she'd feel much more in danger for her life at times, and more touched that her dearest friend stood by her throughout it all.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eine sich langsam entfaltende Liebes- und Lebensgeschichte zwischen zwei Frauen im Wilden Westen zur Pioniertzeit in Nordamerika.

Die Charactere sind faszinierend und einnehmend, vor allem Martha und Amanda, unsere Hauptfiguren. Stinton zeichnet unabhängige und große Frauen in allen Formen und Facetten.

Martha, die Ladenbesitzerin, die ihren Mann verlassen hat, um einen Laden mitten im Nirgendwo zu eröffnen, weil sie es dort so schön findet. Amanda, die die Butter ihrer Kuh verkauft um etwas Geld zu verdienen, heimlich Geschichten schreibt von einer Engelskuh und Martha, die auf ihr reitet. Theda, die einen Protestmarsch organisiert und immer in Hosen auf ihrem Pferd reitet. Clara, die Amanda in allen Lebenslagen unterstützt und Clay, der seine Frau so sehr liebt, dass er sie nicht daran hindern möchte. Und zu guter letzt Ruth, die lieber hilft eine Kuh zu melken und Hafersäcke zu schleppen, statt im Haushalt zu helfen. Ich liebe all diese Figuren und ich liebe Stinton dafür, dass sie sie mit so viel Herz und Würde ausgestattet hat.

Mein Geheimtipp für alle, die eine leicht surreale, lesbische Westernromanze suchen.

[Hannah]

Reading this felt comforting and nourishing. The writing is lovely and feels like folklore, and manages to be wholesome and sexy at the same time. Even when life becomes hard for Amanda and Martha, there's a spirit of hope and love and optimism that carries through, which was a refreshing change from my usual cynical reading tendencies.

[Jasmine]

really weird and different from what I normally would read, at least stylistically. I struggled a bit with the excerpts of Amanda's writing, but I liked to see them evolve over time. really interesting tale full of round characters.

[Mckenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this - found the narrator super likeable and thought it was a really unique story about frontier life. I didn't love the end as much but found myself thinking about the book long after I read it.

[Sally Bellerose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beloved old friend and longtime writing companion - still prejudiced though I may be - this is a fabulous book in every sense of the word.

[Matt Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really gorgeous book.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A kooky book, but it has a satisfying arc.

[Daphne Zanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

western wlw,what’s not to love

[casey vieira · Rating 5 out of 5]

definitely the best sapphic book i have ever read

[ira · Rating 4 out of 5]

very sweet and lovely

[Clara N · Rating 5 out of 5]

thoroughly enjoyed. a bit dated but it was such a wonderful read

[Sonja · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this Western lesbian coming out novel by Susan Stinson. It is beautiful written and a really wonderful story. Amanda, the narrator, becomes a writer through this period in her life. I enjoyed even her depiction of the cow and the touches of speculative fiction in the book.
We get a picture of Amand’s life in Moody, so many aspects of it in a simple and sensory style. The book is really like a perfect bath.
I wanted to quote something from the book but the last review I wrote disappeared on my iPad as soon as I finished copying a long quote so I don’t want risk it.
Read this excellent and fun book and gift it. It is a treasure. Thank you to Susan Stinson for this book.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023 Pride StoryBundle
3.5

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

It takes a lot to get me to read a western. But a couple of lesbian women at the turn of the century is enough to do it. The women in this book love each other with a deep body-love that has to be hidden in this small town named after one of them. It is both heartbreaking and erotic when Amanda brings home-churned butter from her own cow to Martha's store, when they have been loving each other all night long.

There is a long separation, due to a father and a husband and many changes of fortunes.Amanda begins writing stories about Martha, and a flying cow, based on her own cow Alice whom she loves.

There are so many levels and such complexity to the characters and action, and yet the book is a pleasure to read, a good story, with a strong sense of place, and two women trying to figure out how to love each other, how to live within the world.

This is the second book I've read by Susan Stinson, and she is amazing. I feel intoxicated by language and the way she thinks, the characters she creates. I'm on to the next book, Chalk Venus.

[Elaine Burnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can be stingy with the stars, but not with this one. Wow, what a good book! There’s a definite mood to the story (pun intended?). Set in some western state, north of Oklahoma it seems, in pioneer times, it’s about a young wife, Amanda, who develops a fascination with (and love for!) the local storekeeper, Martha Moody. The writing is beautiful. Has a magical tone to it, almost a fable. Yes, there’s a flying cow, but only in Amanda’s stories she writes about Martha, which get her in trouble. The stories within the story have a lot of Paul Bunyanesque fable (Paula Bunyan?), but even the main story has a wonderful mood and tone to it. A tall tale. That’s what it’s like. Down to earth, but also ethereal. Hard to explain, but I like it. A lot.

Have I mentioned the writing is beautiful?

And it's just been reissued by Small Beer Press. So good news. Go buy it!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was incredible! It had such a great group of characters, wonderful description of life in the old west but with a wonderful feminist, body-positive frame...and super sexy to top it all off. It deserves to be reviewed so much more widely than it is here. Miss Alice may just be the best animal character ever!

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story of figuring out how to live your own life. Author deftly weaves storylines with beautiful prose together.

[Whoopy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Special ! A warm story about a not so usual love

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peculiar but very lovely. Beautifully written.