Historical Fiction Catalogue as of November 2014
Books are listed in alphabetical order of author’s last name. Details of books are in the following order:
Catalogue number
Author
Title
Description
Date published
Number of tapes
Reader’s name
035
Aldridge, Sarah
Madame Aurora
In the late 1800s, a story of two pairs of lesbian lovers, one who have shared their lives for decades, and two younger women. Shows how society’s expectation of women’s role affects their lives.
Published 1983
5 tapes
Read by Lee Lanning
050
Allard, Jeannine
Legende: The Story of Philippa and Aurelie
Sometime in the last century, two women living on the coast of France loved each other. One of them posed as a man for most of their life together; they were married, adopted a child, and were very happy together. The one who posed as a man was lost at sea. A statue was erected to her, symbolizing the collective losses of their small town. Years later, when it was known that she had been a woman, the statue was destroyed. This legend is still told. Now Jeannine Allard has built from it, creating a hauntingly beautiful story of two women in love.
Published 1984
3 tapes
Reader unknown
286
Austin, Paddy
Sarah and Eleanor: 1
When two well-born women run away from their homes in Kilkenny to live together, the genteel world of 18th century Ireland is scandalised. Not daunted, Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby make a life together that is as happy and fulfilling as it is eccentric. They create a home in Llangollen in Northern Wales, and become known widely as the Ladies of Llangollen. Based on a true story, ‘Sarah and Eleanor’ is a tale of betrayal, seduction, loneliness and desire, but mostly it is a story of a love that endures through hardships and scandal.
Published 2011
7 tapes
Read by Betty
030N
Brown, Judith C.
Immodest Acts: The life of a lesbian nun in Renaissance Italy
A fascinating 17th century detective story based on Abbess Benedetta Carlini. Her ‘visions’ made her represent the angelic spirit, she claimed. An independent woman, silenced, who turned to visions to leave her mark.
Published 1986
5 tapes
Read by Kathryn Baker
006
Colmore, Gertrude
Suffragettes: a story of three women
A Suffragette novel written in 1911 in the midst of women’s struggle for the vote. The story of three women from different walks of life, who find a common cause in the campaign for women’s suffrage.
Published 1984
6 tapes
Read by Cathie Chappell
243
Dunker, Patricia
James Moranda Barry
At the turn of the 19th century, 10 year old James Miranda Barry enrolled as a medical student in Edinburgh, the start of a glorious career as a military surgeon. Across the empire Barry achieved fame, not only as a brilliant physician, but also as a legendary duelist and celebrated social figure. James Miranda Barry was also a woman. Her greatest achievement of all had been to “pass” for a man for over 50 years. This novel tells Barry’s story for the first time in a richly inventive and entertaining tale of dark family secrets, adultery, questioned paternity and colonial history.
Published 1999
10 tapes
Read by Betty
115
Dykewomon, Elana
Beyond the Pale
This tells a story of Jews who fled violent anti-Semitism in Russia to emigrate to New York’s Lower East Side. Most of the 20th Century’s political passions – trade unions, anarchism, socialism, women’s suffrage – are spelled out in this moving chronicle.
Published 1997
10 tapes
Read by Lia
238
Freeman, Sandra
The Other Side
European, gay and straight, as well as those of every class, populate this novel. Charlie, an English aristocrat, playwrite and Parisian falls in love, perhaps for the first time.
Published 2004
6 tapes
Read by Betty
013
Galford, Ellen
Moll Cutpurse
Tale of rowdy, rollicking lesbian in colourful teeming world of Elizabethan London. The real story of Moll, robber and friend of the poor, as retold by her dear friend Brigit the apothecary.
Published 1985
4 tapes
Read by Lee Lanning
199
March, Caeia
The Hide and Seek Files
Set between 1920 and 1980 this story reflects the history of lesbians in working class North of England. Moss and her partner Biff are the mainstays of their northern mining community. A devoted couple who run the local grocery shop, but are they quite what they seem?
Published 1998
8 tapes
Read by Betty
279
March, Caeia
Letters To Charlotte: The Letters From Ellen Nussey To Charlotte Bronte
In January 1831, two adolescent schoolgirls meet at Roe heading boarding School in Mirfield, and are instantly drawn to each other. One is Ellen Nussey; the other is Charlotte Bronte – Through a blend of journal entries, real and fictionalised letters, this touching narrative charts the intimate relationship between the pair as they become friends, confidantes and spiritual lovers. It is both a fascinating social document, and an account of how two remarkable women responded to the joys, fears and sorrows of their age, and to the deep emotional bond they found with each other.
Published 2010
9 tapes
Read by Betty
139
Miller, Isabel
Patience and Sarah
Classic lesbian love story. In a background of puritanical 19th century New England, two women pioneers find love for each other without precedent in their experience, guided only by their intuition and feelings.
Published 1969
5 tapes
Read by Jane
038
Renault, Mary
The Friendly Young Ladies
Set in 1930s England, two sisters leaving Cornwall for London are visited by a (male) doctor disturbing their domestic calm. Story of Leonora, writer of cowboy novels, and her dangerously naive sister.
Published 1984
7 tapes
Read by Judith Humphrey
046
Russ, Joanna
Extra(ordinary) People
Linked short stories. A medieval abbess defends her community against Viking invasion; a time-traveller disguises himself as a male god on an errand of mercy; evolves a Gothic romance between two women.
Published 1985
5 tapes
Read by Debbie Glass
189
Scott, Manda
Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle
In AD 60, Boudicca, war leader of the Eceni, led her people in the final bloody revolt against the occupying armies of Rome. This epic recounts the growth to adulthood of Breaca, who at twelve kills her first warrior. Scott takes us into a world of druids and dreamers and the magic of the gods where horses and towns and the landscape itself become characters in their own right.
Published 2003
15 tapes
Read by Betty
181
Stertevant, Katherine
A Mistress Moderately Fair
17th Century London is not accustomed to such a woman. Margaret Featherstone, a widow, manages her own household and business affairs. Her work as a playwright brings her into contact with Amy Dudley, an aspiring actress. The story is full of intrigue, suspense and romance.
Published 1988
7 tapes
Read by Chris Stevenson
167
Taverner, Jay
Rebellion
In 1715, the first year of the Jacobite uprisings, a game-keeper’s and an aristocrat’s daughter, both 16, learn of the perils of war in a changing society. They share a passionate coming of age.
Published 1997
6 tapes
Read by Betty
186
Taverner, Jay
Hearts and Minds
Sequel to “Rebellion” (Cat. 167). In 1734, when Hope and Bell are parted. Both women find their separation hard to bear. Enter Lucy, who is used to being cursed for her dark skin. This historical novel explores witchcraft, England’s hidden past, its inns and its ironworks and the secrets of lesbian love.
Published 2001
6 tapes
Read by Betty
125
Waters, Sarah
Tipping the Velvet
A saucy, sensuous and multi-layered historical romance, this follows the glittering career of Nan King – oyster girl turned music-hall entertainer.
Published 1998
13 tapes
Read by Jane & Lia
170
Waters, Sarah
Affinity
Set in and around the women’s wards at one of London’s grimmest Victorian gaols. Prison visitor Margaret Prior is fascinated by the inmate spiritualist Selina Dawas. Margaret is drawn into a twilight world of séances and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions.
Published 2000
11 tapes
Read by Chris Stevenson
198
Waters, Sarah
Fingersmith
London 1862, Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth grows up amongst petty thieves, ‘fingersmiths” under the rough but loving care of Mrs Sucksby. But from the moment she draws breath Sue’s fate is linked to that of another orphan growing up in a gloomy mansion not too many miles away. This is a long, dark, twisted and satisfying story, a clever and funny lesbian take on Victorian times.
Published 2002
15 tapes
Read by Jill
212
Waters, Sarah
The Night Watch
The story of four Londoners, three women and a young man, which moves back from 1947, through air-raids, illicit liaisons and sexual adventure, to end with its beginning in 1941. Their lives and their secrets connect, in sometimes startling ways. War leads to strange alliances.
Published 2006
11 tapes
Read by Betty
008
Winterson, Jeanette
The Passion
A fantasy, ostensibly about Napoleon’s cook. Juxtaposes a story of public hero-worship with a female narrative of private adoration, in the form of a tender lesbian love affair
Published 1987
4 tapes
Read by Dawn Evans
004
Winterson, Jeanette
Sexing the Cherry
Jordan and his mother live on the banks of the Thames in 17th Century England, but there are other realities: the family who celebrate ceilings but deny floors; the 12 dancing princesses who escape each night and murder their unwanted husbands. Jordan returns to London, meanwhile his mother has been helping out in a brothel that promises a few surprises.
Published 1989
4 tapes
Reader unknown
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