Is Ali Smith’s novel gay? What’s it called?

Well, she’s written several novels – I’ve mentioned ‘Like’ recently, perhaps you are referring to that one? It is entirely centred around a f/f pairing, both of whom have rather tragic difficulties communicating with one another (one is a deeply closeted, ambitious English academic, the other is a wild-eyed Scot she meets as a teen on holiday). Their relationship isn’t a healthy one, but it is deeply intriguing, and a bit of a mystery unraveling it through the course of the book (the first half is told from the perspective of Amy, the academic, some years after she knew Ash, the Scottish one – the second half a diary Ash left behind that illuminates Amy’s story).

If you’re looking for ‘romance,’ this might be a disappointment or an angsty, mystery-driven thrill. Smith is a latter-day Virginia Woolf who delights in language, dark humour and the inner lives of complicated people. Her books are rarely straightforward, more puzzle-like, allowing the reader to interpret ideas and relationships presented in various ways. I find them rewarding, but they aren’t exactly happy-go-lucky affairs.

Most of Smith’s books (and short stories) are f/f centred, including Hotel World (another one I highly recommend).

Thanks for your question (apologies for the long-winded answer).

violentfutches:

malcolmcooks:

animate-mush:

violentfutches:

so a tourist in Italy is fulfilling her lifelong dream of seeing the birth of venus, her fave painting, in person. and while she’s there a Hot Girl strikes up a conversation with her and she loves art and is charming and they talk until the museum closes. they exchange numbers. the next day the birth of Venus painting is stolen, nobody knows who stole it. so anyways, the two girls continue dating and are happy and shit? and on their one year anniversary her girlfriend reveals that she’s an international art thief and she stole the birth of venus after meeting her. tourist girl flips and wants it returned she doesn’t want to just. hoard the art so nobody can see it. so then art thief has to do a reverse heist where she sneaks the painting back into the museum without getting caught

Bear in mind that the Birth of Venus is like 15 feet tall and 30 feet wide…

why would you have to do a reverse heist instead of like
thouroughly cleaning it of fingerprints, DNA and other trace evidence and then just quietly dropping it off round the back underneath a tarp and a note attached

because she’s gay and loves drama don’t ever question me again

Something like this happens in Ali Smith’s novel, Like.

It takes place at a gallery in Cambridge – a Scottish girl, wanting to impress the posh English girl she is in love with, steals a painting and puts it in her rooms at university.

It doesn’t go the way she planned (and, yes, she has to return it).

Scottish writer Ali Smith on Desert Island Discs was simply brilliant today. If writing, telling stories, living is important to you, have a listen, please.

BBC Radio 4: Desert Island Discs – Ali Smith speaking with Kirsty Young.

Thanks for sharing all the story recommendations. I’m still finding it very hard to find new lgbt books its like no one is writing them or if they are you can’t really find them in bookshops. Even looking up on amazon and other places just brings up a lot of porn like stuff. There has to be some real literature somewhere. Where do we go?

My original reply was eaten, and maybe it is just as well, since it was about novel length. I’m just going to list some authors and their works and some links. I know finding lgbtq literature is absolutely the worst sort of experience, but if you’re having trouble with bookshops or online, definitely look into a local library, librarians can be great help. FAR better than Google.

Jeannette Winterson: Written on the Body, The Powerbook, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit
Ali Smith – Hotel World, Like – her short story collections are magic
Sarah Waters – Fingersmith, Tipping the Velvet
Nicola Griffith – Ammonite
Katherine V. Forrest – Curious Wine
Malinda Lo – Ash (fantasy YA)
Nancy Garden – Annie on My Mind (classic YA)
Stacey D’Erasmo – Tea
Jackie Kay – Trumpet (also look for her poetry)
Alison Bechdel – Fun Home, Dykes to Watch Out For

(I’ve mentioned Emma Donoghue more than once, so won’t repeat here)

Definitely read Virginia Woolf – Orlando is classic as is Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt (the book upon which the recent film Carol is based).

For non-fiction, and if you’re interested in Woolf and her contemporaries (especially Vita Sackville-West), read Diana Souhami’s Mrs. Keppel and Her Daughter – beautifully researched story of the favourite mistress of Edward VII and her daughter, Violet, who carried on a mad love affair with Sackville-West for most of their adult lives. It’s heartbreaking, funny and full of irony (Keppel was the grandmother of Camilla Parker-Bowles, who became mistress of another Prince of Wales though they later married).

Another great non-fiction read is Hermione Lee’s masterful biography of Woolf. There is nothing dreary or boring here and I consider it required reading for young writers, anyone who identifies as queer and neurodivergent.

Now, all this said, perhaps the best place to look for quality lesbian literature these days (for free) is online through sites like Archive of Our Own (Ao3) – look up Lexa/Clexa fan fiction (The 100) and you’ll find some wonderful writers who are pushing the boundaries of what fan fiction can be (other fandoms are surely doing so as well, but I’m mostly familiar with Clexa at this point). Authors like @chrmdpoet, @unicyclehippo and @possibilistfanfiction, @coeurdastronaute, @steklir – just to name a few – explore the broader qualities of ‘alternate universe’ tales that include not only lesbian pairings, but non-binary, neurodivergent individuals with compassion and care.

I also want to mention two writers of fan fiction from the older Xena universe – where I first discovered fan fiction and got my mind blown on the quality of work being produced. Vivian Darkbloom’s Mel and Janice series as well as her White Trash series are classic examples of how good fan fiction can be: novel, epic, hilariously funny and very moving.

Brigit M. Morgan is another author who wrote above and beyond, with her tragically unfinished Apocalypse series, she offered a bold, mature and breathtaking look at Xena’s story, especially following her death in one of the most cinematic takes that could easily have been made into a follow-up film. Her shorter fiction goes even darker in places, with blunt trauma examinations of celebrity and drug addiction. If you enjoy Clexa fan fiction, it would be worthwhile to follow up on these marvelous precursors – you’ll find so much of what current fan fiction is built upon.

So, I hope that helps a little. Good luck and do share what you find!

ETA: I’m really ashamed of how white this list is – which just goes to show how that as difficult as it is to find lesbian literature, it is somewhat harder to narrow it down to those who are so often left out of even that incredibly small category. I’ll keep looking and hope others post their findings, too.