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The Penguin Books of Short Stories
The Penguin Book of Lesbian Short Stories
In this wide-ranging anthology, 32 women from Britain, continental Europe and the Americas express the depth and complexity of lesbian literature. Including stories about coming-out and cross-dressing, as well as vampire tales, science fiction, parody, and romance, this collection "casts the world in a different light."--The New Republic.
430 pages, Paperback
First published November 2, 1993
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About the author
Margaret Reynolds
38 books8 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
Margaret Reynolds is Professor of English and Modern Culture whose work explores nineteenth to twenty-first century literature, poetry, and the transmission of classical texts. Educated at Oxford and London, her edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh won the British Academy’s Rose Mary Crawshay Prize. She co-edited Victorian Women Poets, authored The Sappho Companion, The Sappho History, and edited Adam Bede for Penguin. A writer and broadcaster for the BBC, The Guardian, and The Times, she also published the memoir The Wild Track in 2021.
Margaret Reynolds is Professor of English and Modern Culture whose work explores nineteenth to twenty-first century literature, poetry, and the transmission of classical texts. Educated at Oxford and London, her edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh won the British Academy’s Rose Mary Crawshay Prize. She co-edited Victorian Women Poets, authored The Sappho Companion, The Sappho History, and edited Adam Bede for Penguin. A writer and broadcaster for the BBC, The Guardian, and The Times, she also published the memoir The Wild Track in 2021.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 27, 2008
I bought this book furtively when I was 13 or 14, and hid it in a drawer in my room underneath something -- a box of stationery, I think? Its presence there, in my room, made very anxious, but also excited. Anyway, I bought it because I thought reading it would answer some of my questions, namely, Am I Really Gay or Not?
For the record, it was not helpful in this matter. I think I thought it might ring some bells, strike some chords, but it was just... confusing. There were no bells or chords. Part of the problem was probably my obsessive attachment to reading anthologies straight through from beginning to end; this one is arranged chronologically, so that meant I had over 100 pages to slog through before I made it to the 1940s. I gave up before that, though.
It also says a lot about me-at-13 that I thought reading a book of short stories was the way to determine if I was really truly a homo.
For the record, it was not helpful in this matter. I think I thought it might ring some bells, strike some chords, but it was just... confusing. There were no bells or chords. Part of the problem was probably my obsessive attachment to reading anthologies straight through from beginning to end; this one is arranged chronologically, so that meant I had over 100 pages to slog through before I made it to the 1940s. I gave up before that, though.
It also says a lot about me-at-13 that I thought reading a book of short stories was the way to determine if I was really truly a homo.
July 3, 2021
Very mixed reaction with this one. First of all, other reviews mention the weirdness of a couple of the "short stories" actually being excerpts of longer pieces, which really didn't work. For example, there's an Ann Carson story that was good, but was taken from the middle of one of her books and it was super jarring to try and read without the complete narrative. The stories from about the middle through the Margaret Atwood one (which didn't have lesbians? Just matriarchal moth aliens that was way too short to be anything but baffling), after which the last couple are sort of meh to okay in quality.
January 20, 2022
I think part of the reason why I adore this book so much, which I can tell isn’t the most popular opinion, is because I skipped ahead. I’m not the hugest fan of 1800s writing so I started the book near the middle, with the 1950s stories, and I loved almost all of them. They’re really sweet and cute and loving (and a few are rather spicy) and they give insight into what being a lesbian back then was like. I would say my favorites are “The Vampire,” “A Lesbian Appetite,” and “Bread.” I recently went back and read the first half of the book that I skipped, and I wasn’t as big a fan of most of those stories. As I saw in another review, I agree that putting the stories in chronological order is a weakness of the anthology. I loved the introduction though; it was a wonderful little history of lesbian literature and law. I stand by my four-star rating.
January 15, 2016
A strange and beautiful book at times. Like a lover it develops its skill the more you indulge yourself in its pages.
I hadn't realised how much I had moved away from the old-fashioned purple prose and embraced the modernity of active words and language until I worked my way through these pages. Stories are included in a chronological order and I moved with them from estranged boredom to raw excitement.
If I read it again, and I probably will, I shall forgo the first seventy pages and begin with "A Room of One's Own". Nothing beyond that point disappointed me, while everything before it left me cold.
I hadn't realised how much I had moved away from the old-fashioned purple prose and embraced the modernity of active words and language until I worked my way through these pages. Stories are included in a chronological order and I moved with them from estranged boredom to raw excitement.
If I read it again, and I probably will, I shall forgo the first seventy pages and begin with "A Room of One's Own". Nothing beyond that point disappointed me, while everything before it left me cold.
December 30, 2021
it's not 2 stars because of the lesbians. it's 2 stars because i wanted it to be sexier and very few of the stories are sexy. also some of the driest prose of my life. almost gave up several times. but i won't be defeated by inanimate objects
February 4, 2011
Only read a few stories, and what I read was good. Just never got around to finishing it.
September 29, 2025
Some stories were good, others were bad. Overall, I was disappointed because I went into this book with high hopes.
July 6, 2021
“‘Oh my dear Martha!’ She cried, ‘Won’t you kiss me goodnight?’”
1. Sarah Orne Jewett - Martha’s Lady (1897)
The Author: Jewett wrote this story aged 48, while living in a Boston marriage with Annie Fields in Maine. Jewett would have been of the same social class as the character Harriett Pyne, who owns the house Martha works in as a servant in this short story. This story follows Jewett’s pattern of writing that focuses on places and people, rather than plot.
My Review: I really enjoyed this character study for what it was - a window into a way of looking at the world that has long past. The prose is patient and the description is lovely, though it is somewhat uncomfortable to read through a modern lens, both due to the depiction of the characters and their relationship to one another.
Each of the characters is too perfect: Harriet Pyne seriously upholds customs as the owner of the stately house; Helena Vernon is a sparkling love interest, beautiful, thoughtful, funny, and kind; and Martha is the perfectly devoted servant. Perhaps these perfect characters, who are somehow both obviously sapphic and models of femininity, explain why Jewett’s writing was praised for promoting a kinder way of living. It was the class relations that made me most uncomfortable - Martha is painted as a woman who lives to be a servant, whose only ambition is to perfect her service to honour Helena, a mistress whose kind words were centred around Martha’s suitability as a servant.
The early works of this collection have been criticised as being too vague and too slow, but I think that is the point here. However, I was somewhat dismayed at the portrait of a sapphic life this short story provides. It is one of waiting, of stagnancy, and of unmet desire for connection.
1. Sarah Orne Jewett - Martha’s Lady (1897)
The Author: Jewett wrote this story aged 48, while living in a Boston marriage with Annie Fields in Maine. Jewett would have been of the same social class as the character Harriett Pyne, who owns the house Martha works in as a servant in this short story. This story follows Jewett’s pattern of writing that focuses on places and people, rather than plot.
My Review: I really enjoyed this character study for what it was - a window into a way of looking at the world that has long past. The prose is patient and the description is lovely, though it is somewhat uncomfortable to read through a modern lens, both due to the depiction of the characters and their relationship to one another.
Each of the characters is too perfect: Harriet Pyne seriously upholds customs as the owner of the stately house; Helena Vernon is a sparkling love interest, beautiful, thoughtful, funny, and kind; and Martha is the perfectly devoted servant. Perhaps these perfect characters, who are somehow both obviously sapphic and models of femininity, explain why Jewett’s writing was praised for promoting a kinder way of living. It was the class relations that made me most uncomfortable - Martha is painted as a woman who lives to be a servant, whose only ambition is to perfect her service to honour Helena, a mistress whose kind words were centred around Martha’s suitability as a servant.
The early works of this collection have been criticised as being too vague and too slow, but I think that is the point here. However, I was somewhat dismayed at the portrait of a sapphic life this short story provides. It is one of waiting, of stagnancy, and of unmet desire for connection.
Read
July 24, 2025I always find it difficult to rate anthologies, mostly because of the vastly different quality or the interest I had in each story. Overall, this book was an admirable attempt at collecting lesbian stories by lesbian or sapphic writers throughout the years, kudos for that truly. Some of my favourite writers of all time are featured in this collection (Jeanette Winterson and Alison Bechdel ily) and I definitely discovered some new authors that I am excited to dive further into!
However, my biggest and I think most obvious problem with this collection is how painfully white it is; not even that, how painfully white and American/British it is (With a bit of French or Irish thrown in for flavour, I guess.) Seriously at some point I was begging for anything to get me out of this white eurocentric and americanized narrative. Sure, there are a few writers of colour feature... And when I say a few I mean two out of the 32 (!!) writers featured! That is just ridiculous in my opinion.
Most of the stories themselves were fine, even great at times!! Though occasionally I did skip a story or two out of sheer boredom (seriously how many times can I read basically the same story about a white lesbian who has left home and is feeling lost in the world...) Though this succeeded in making me want to read 'The Gilda Stories' by Jewelle Gomez more than I already did.
However, my biggest and I think most obvious problem with this collection is how painfully white it is; not even that, how painfully white and American/British it is (With a bit of French or Irish thrown in for flavour, I guess.) Seriously at some point I was begging for anything to get me out of this white eurocentric and americanized narrative. Sure, there are a few writers of colour feature... And when I say a few I mean two out of the 32 (!!) writers featured! That is just ridiculous in my opinion.
Most of the stories themselves were fine, even great at times!! Though occasionally I did skip a story or two out of sheer boredom (seriously how many times can I read basically the same story about a white lesbian who has left home and is feeling lost in the world...) Though this succeeded in making me want to read 'The Gilda Stories' by Jewelle Gomez more than I already did.
April 17, 2019
I've been looking for stories featuring lesbian characters or written by lesbian authors. This book certainly fits the bill, but wow. It's a mixed bag and by mixed bag I mean, perhaps 4 stories out of the whole lot are enjoyable.
The ones written in the 1900s are barely readable unless you're used to language and idioms from that time. The biggest problem with most stories are how vague they are. Vague, dull and often nonsensical or confusing. I can't tell if it's bad writing or just if I'm dumb. One of the stories, titled 'Bread' is 15 pages of a girl describing her sweetheart's bread eating habits in as boring and drawn out way as possible. It was a chore to get through and whenever a straight forward tale came up I wanted to hug it and pluck it out of this awful book.
If this is what lesbian writing has to offer, I'll be moving right along.
The ones written in the 1900s are barely readable unless you're used to language and idioms from that time. The biggest problem with most stories are how vague they are. Vague, dull and often nonsensical or confusing. I can't tell if it's bad writing or just if I'm dumb. One of the stories, titled 'Bread' is 15 pages of a girl describing her sweetheart's bread eating habits in as boring and drawn out way as possible. It was a chore to get through and whenever a straight forward tale came up I wanted to hug it and pluck it out of this awful book.
If this is what lesbian writing has to offer, I'll be moving right along.
Read
February 19, 2021This is a 420 page doorstop of a book, containing just under a century's worth of prose. The first story is Sarah Orne Jewett's Martha's Lady (1897); the last, Jeanette Winterson's The Poetics of Sex (1993). Despite the title, not everything in here is a short story - there's an extract from Beebo Brinker, and part of a lecture by Virginia Woolf.
It sits very much at the literary end of things, often wandering off into the downright experimental, and I sometimes felt that it took itself a little too seriously. But it took its contents seriously, too, and it was pleasing to see facsimile reproductions of parts of The Ladies' Almanack (which I'm sure is hilarious if one knew any of the ladies) and a comic strip by Alison Bechdel. I'd be really interested to see what might be included in an updated edition.
It sits very much at the literary end of things, often wandering off into the downright experimental, and I sometimes felt that it took itself a little too seriously. But it took its contents seriously, too, and it was pleasing to see facsimile reproductions of parts of The Ladies' Almanack (which I'm sure is hilarious if one knew any of the ladies) and a comic strip by Alison Bechdel. I'd be really interested to see what might be included in an updated edition.
February 18, 2019
Contains my fav Short "Vampire" by Pat Califia
April 10, 2020
Some stories were really beautiful and some were really dumb. A lot of white people.
January 21, 2021
Some gems, some duds. While some stories were a bit aged and biased to their time period, other stories were beautifully crafted and drawn out.
June 27, 2024
Love a bit of girl on girl ;)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 29, 2025
Llegué a esto por Djuna y he acabado volviendo a tener 13 años
May 9, 2008
Just couldn't get through this one! The stories didn't engage me. Seemed more like self-conscious, political tracts regarding sexuality. I wanted to read about PEOPLE, not the politics of the bedroom.
April 9, 2012
A mixed bag - my reading progress was all stop-and-start.
April 17, 2013
There were very few stories in this book that were worthwhile; many of the stories and poems were written by historic lesbians of the early 20th century, like Radclyffe Hall.
April 21, 2017
Handful of strong stories but a lot don't work.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews