Lesbian

Wry and exhilarating, Chutzpah is a fearless exploration of what is possible when one person simply refuses to choose between abandoning their roots and abandoning themselves.<BR><BR>LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 WINGATE PRIZE<BR><BR>"Clear-sighted and courageous, with an extremely dry sense of humour"<BR>DAVID BADDIEL, author of Jews Don't Count<BR><BR>"A gutting, brave story, written with exquisite candour."<BR>Dr. Sara Glass, author of Kissing Girls on Shabbat<BR><BR>Yehudis Fletcher was six years old when she decided to find out if there was actually a G-d.<BR><BR>One Sabbath evening, she dared to defy a fundamental rule. She didn't wash her hands before breaking bread. At the table, Yehudis braced herself for a terrible, biblical punishment: being swallowed by the ground or consumed by fire. But nothing happened.<BR><BR>It was at this moment that she discovered a spark within that would grow to make her invincible.<BR><BR>As the daughter of a rabbi raised in an Orthodox Jewish community, Yehudis struggled to conform to the strict expectations placed upon her and her siblings. Outspoken, curious and desperate to know more about G-d, she felt fenced in by arbitrary rules and questions left unanswered.<BR><BR>As she grew older, these restrictions intensified and her questions for G-d hung heavier than ever. Repeatedly let down by those who were supposed to protect her and pushed on to a path that seemed to take her further away from who she really was, she began to yearn for a life where she could embrace all facets of herself.<BR><BR>When Yehudis's sexuality came to blows with the expectations of her family and her community, the pressure to inhabit a binary position reached fever pitch. Confronted with either losing the faith she loved or losing herself, Yehudis made the most daring decision of all: she decided to stay.<BR><BR>"Chutzpah is a brilliant and fascinating insight into an ultra-orthodox Jewish community."<BR>Harriet Wistrich, author of Sister in Law<BR><BR>"Yehudis's resilience is truly inspirational."<BR>Ashley Blaker, author of Normal Schmormal

'breathtaking poetry' - Donna Ashworth<BR><BR>'this book made me gayer' - Michaela Angemeer<BR><BR>'a powerful reminder that we're not alone' - Courtney Peppernell<BR><BR><BR>'To every woman I have ever loved, and to those I was afraid to.'<BR><BR>A poetic exploration of sapphic love and self-discovery from Isabella Dorta.<BR><BR>This collection will guide you on an empowering journey to explore sexuality with courage and understanding. <BR><BR>A coming-of-age, coming-out story that will leave you feeling seen, heard, and comforted, no matter which side of the closet you're on.

A 2025 AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION STONEWALL HONOR BOOK<BR> <BR>In this “searing testament to the strength in claiming one’s destiny” (The Washington Post), a young woman desperately attempts to protect her children and family while also embracing her queer identity in a controlling Hasidic community. This memoir is perfect for fans of Unorthodox and Educated.<BR><BR>Growing up in the Hasidic community of Brooklyn’s Borough Park, Sara Glass knew one painful truth: what was expected of her and what she desperately wanted were impossibly opposed. Tormented by her attraction to women and trapped in a loveless arranged marriage, she ultimately could not conform to her religious upbringing and eventually made the difficult decision to walk away from the world she knew.<BR> <BR>Sara’s journey to self-acceptance began with the battle for a divorce and custody of her children, an act that left her on the verge of estrangement from her family and community. Controlled by the fear of losing everything, she forced herself to remain loyal to the compulsory heteronormativity baked into Hasidic Judaism and married again. But after suffering profound loss and a shocking sexual assault, Sara decided to finally be completely true to herself.<BR> <BR>Kissing Girls on Shabbat is both an unflinching window into the world of ultra-conservative Orthodox Jewish communities and an inspiring celebration of learning to love yourself that ultimately “leaves a mark” (Publishers Weekly).

An exhilarating biography of the iconic poet, essayist and activist Audre Lorde Read these chapters like a collection of poems that speak in chorus in all directions. Understand each word as an opportunity for Audre's fierce love, which is the same love that birthed the volcanoes and split the continents, to reach you, wherever you are.Audre Lorde was a survivor: of childhood disability injustice, of her best friend's suicide, of the atomic age. She was a college activist against nuclear arms. A mother who knew poetry could help her children survive a racist world. And, ultimately, a cancer survivor, who understood the war going on within her cells was connected to the struggle against oppression taking place all around her.This stunning new account of Lorde's life and work illuminates how, for Lorde, survival was not simply about getting through, or about resilience. It was about how to live on, and with, a planet in transformation. Lorde's commitment to justice was intimately connected to her deep engagement with the natural world; with the planetary dynamics of geology, meteorology, and biology. For Lorde, ecological images are not simply metaphors but rather literal guides to how to be on earth, and how to live fully as a Black feminist lesbian warrior poet.In Survival Is a Promise, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, the first researcher to explore the full depths of Lorde's manuscript archives, illuminates the eternal life of Audre Lorde. Her life and work swell to become a cosmic force, showing us the grand possibility of life together on earth.

'Brilliant and powerful' ELIZABETH GILBERT<BR>'So full of wisdom and pleasure that you don't want it to end' MAGGIE NELSON<BR>'Only Melissa Febos could convince us of the ecstasy of abstinence' KATHERINE MAY<BR><BR>A TIME 'must-read' book of 2025<BR>A Vogue, TIME and Vulture 'most anticipated' book of 2025<BR><BR>In the wake of a disastrous two-year relationship, Melissa Febos decided to take a break - for three months she would abstain from dating, relationships and sex. Her friends were amused. Did she really think three months was a long time? But to Melissa, it was. Ever since her teens, she had been in one relationship or another. It was time to focus on herself and examine the lifelong patterns that had got her to this point. When those three months ended, she decided to extend her celibate period, fearing that she had not yet gained the clarity she was searching for. She knew she was taking on a challenge but had no idea that this year would become the most fulfilling and sensual of her life. <BR><BR>No longer defined by her romantic pursuits, Melissa learned to relish the delights of solitude, the thrill of living on her own terms, the pleasures unmediated by lovers and the freedom to pursue her ideals without distraction or guilt. She began to see her life and her self-worth in a radical new way. Her year of divestment transformed her relationships with friends and peers, her work, creativity - and most of all her relationship to herself.<BR><BR>The Dry Season is a memoir of Melissa's year of celibacy, and a profound exploration of independence, sexuality and deep self-knowledge.

Der NYT-Bestseller der weltberühmten Sängerin und Schauspielerin!Wicked gehört mittlerweile zum Standardrepertoire in jeder Musicalausbildung. Auch Cynthia Erivo erlernte die Musik schon lange, bevor genau diese ihr Leben verändern würde. Jetzt ist sie eine der bekanntesten Schauspielerinnen und Sängerinnen der Welt und beweist, dass sich selbst zu entdecken eine niemals endende Reise ist.In bewegenden, persönlichen Anekdoten beschreibt sie, wie sie als queere Schwarze Frau im Showbusiness ihren Platz gefunden hat. Erivo schildert die Herausforderungen, mit denen sie konfrontiert war, und zeigt, wie ihre sensible Emotionalität und ihr unermüdliches Durchhaltevermögen sie an die Spitze gebracht haben. Sie ermutigt Leserinnen und Leser, ihre Träume kompromisslos zu verfolgen, auch wenn der Weg schwierig sein mag. Ihr Buch ist nicht nur eine persönliche Erzählung, sondern auch ein kraftvolles Manifest für Diversität und Selbstakzeptanz. Cynthia Erivo inspiriert damit nicht nur die nächste Generation von Künstlerinnen, sondern alle, die ihre Träumen leben wollen.

'Courageous, moving, bold and beautifully, brilliantly written.' - Daisy Buchanan <BR><BR>I am 13 years old and these are my secrets.<BR>1. I have a crush on Jet from ITV gameshow Gladiators. So strong! So pretty! <BR>2. I still play with Barbie dolls. It's mostly making them scissor. Or snog. Or lie on top of each other with feeling.<BR>3. I just kissed my best friend. Spoiler alert: she's a girl.<BR><BR>From the suburbs of Leeds to the streets of Sydney, from the queer clubs of London to a quiet life by the sea, through love, family, friendship and heartache, join Roxy Bourdillon on a journey to work out exactly who she is.<BR><BR>What a Girl Wants is the perfect read for anyone who's searched for their place in the world, for anyone who's ever been catcalled, anyone who's despaired about their body, fallen in love, had their heart broken and found friends who can put it back together.<BR><BR>From overcoming shame and finding your tribe, to surviving the dating scene and learning to really express yourself, this is a book about joy, empowerment and freedom.<BR><BR>It's a laugh-out-loud treat of a read for fans of Dolly Alderton's Everything I Know About Love and Caitlin Moran's How to Be a Woman - but with a glorious queer twist.

London 1922. Bei einem Abendessen lernt Virginia Woolf die zehn Jahre jüngere Vita Sackville-West kennen und ist so fasziniert wie eingeschüchtert von der burschikosen Hocharistokratin: Schön, skandalumwittert und schriftstellerisch erfolgreich ist sie ganz anders als Virginia, die sich als unzulänglich in allen Bereichen empfindet. Doch auch Vita ist hingerissen von Virginia, von ihrem Wesen, ihrem Geist. Aus Freundschaft wird berauschende Leidenschaft. Und eine tragische Liebe, die nicht nur Virginias Leben, sondern auch ihr Werk maßgeblich beeinflussen wird.

Das Leben der Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, 1928 in Berlin geboren, war ein ungewöhnliches: Die trans Frau wuchs unter einem tyrannischen Vater im nationalsozialistischen Deutschland auf und eröffnete 1960 mit ihrer Sammlung, die sie unter widrigsten Umständen zusammengetragen hatte, das Gründerzeitmuseum im Gutshaus Mahlsdorf. Die schwule und couragierte Aktivistin, die sich auch gegen das SED-System behauptete, emigrierte 1997 aufgrund neonazistischer Angriffe nach Schweden und starb 2002.Ihre spannende Autobiografie, die 1992 zum ersten Mal erschien, ist aufwühlend, witzig, frivol - und auch nach 30 Jahren noch aktuell. Mit der Neuauflage kehrt "Ich bin meine eigene Frau" endlich wieder zurück in den Buchhandel.

""Wide-ranging yet consistently affecting, these pieces offer a crucial and inspired survey of the immigrant experience in America."" –Publishers Weekly"[These contributions] touch on so many different facets of the immigrant experience that readers will find much to ponder... [and] experience how creative writing enriches our understanding of each other and our lives." –BooklistIntroduction by Pulitzer Prize–winning author Viet Thanh NguyenA unique collection of 41 groundbreaking essays, poems, and artwork by migrants, refugees and Dreamers—including award-winning writers, artists, and activists—that illuminate what it is like living undocumented today.In the overheated debate about immigration, we often lose sight of the humanity at the heart of this complex issue. The immigrants and refugees living precariously in the United States are mothers and fathers, children, neighbors, and friends. Individuals propelled by hope and fear, they gamble their lives on the promise of America, yet their voices are rarely heard.This anthology of essays, poetry, and art seeks to shift the immigration debate—now shaped by rancorous stereotypes and xenophobia—towards one rooted in humanity and justice. Through their storytelling and art, the contributors to this thought-provoking book remind us that they are human still. Transcending their current immigration status, they offer nuanced portraits of their existence before and after migration, the factors behind their choices, the pain of leaving their homeland and beginning anew in a strange country, and their collective hunger for a future not defined by borders.Created entirely by undocumented or formerly undocumented migrants, Somewhere We Are Human is a journey of memory and yearning from people newly arrived to America, those who have been here for decades, and those who have ultimately chosen to leave or were deported. Touching on themes of race, class, gender, nationality, sexuality, politics, and parenthood, Somewhere We Are Human reveals how joy, hope, mourning, and perseverance can take root in the toughest soil and bloom in the harshest conditions.

NOMINATED FOR THE H.R.F. KEATING AWARD, 2022. <BR><BR>'My New Year's Eve Toast: to all the devils, lusts, passions, greeds, envies, loves, hates, strange desires, enemies ghostly and real, the army of memories, with which I do battle - may they never give me peace' - Patricia Highsmith (New Year's Eve, 1947).<BR><BR>Made famous by the great success of her psychological thrillers, The Talented Mr Ripley and Strangers on a Train, Patricia Highsmith is renowned as one of the most influential and celebrated modern writers. However, there has never been a clear picture of the woman behind the books.<BR><BR>The relationship between Highsmith's lesbianism, her fraught personality - by parts self-destructive and malicious - and her fiction, has been largely ignored by biographers in the past. As an openly homosexual writer, she wrote the seminal lesbian love story Carol for which she would be venerated, in modern times, as a radical exponent of the LGBTQ+ community.<BR><BR>Alas, her status as an LGBTQ+ icon is undermined by her excessive cruelty towards and exploitation of her friends and many lovers. In this biography, Richard Bradford brings his sharp and incisive style to one of the greatest and most controversial writers of the twentieth century. He considers Highsmith's bestsellers in the context of her troubled personal life; her alcoholism, licentious sex life, racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny and abundant self-loathing.

Kirsty Loehr exposes centuries of outrageous straightwashing in this deliciously queer history'Fast paced, fun, and delightfully filthy.' Kate Lister, host of Betwixt the SheetsNo, they weren't 'just friends'!Queer women have been written out of history since, well, forever. 'But historians famously care about women!', said no one. From Anne Bonny and Mary Read who sailed the seas together disguised as pirates, to US football captain Megan Rapinoe declaring 'You can't win a championship without gays on your team', via countless literary salons and tuxedos, A Short History of Queer Women sets the record straight on women who have loved other women through the ages.Who says lesbians can't be funny?

Queer is beautiful! Alles was man über die LGBTIQ+-Bewegung wissen mussAktivismus in allen Farben des Regenbogens: Dieses inspirierende Buch erzählt die Geschichte der globalen LGBTIQ+-Bewegung von den 1930er-Jahren bis heute. Als kompakte Chronologie des Wegs zu gesellschaftlicher Anerkennung und Gleichberechtigung vermittelt 'Pride!' die bedeutendsten Ereignisse und Meilensteine, Daten und Fakten, und stellt in Kurzporträts die wichtigsten Protagonist*innen und Aktivist*innen der Bewegung vor. In frischem Buchdesign verpackt, erzählt anhand von farbenfrohen Illustrationen, Zeitleisten, Übersichtskarten und Zitaten.

"Alles, was ich tue, mache ich, um meiner Cousine nahe zu sein."Azadiyas Cousine wird von deren Vater ermordet, weil sie ein selbstbestimmtes Leben führen will. Nach dem Ehrenmord erkennt Azadiya, dass sie ihr Leben verändern muss, um frei zu werden: als jesidische Kurdin in Deutschland, die in eine streng gefügte Gemeinschaft hineingeboren wurde; als Lesbe; als Frau, die studieren, reisen und Fußball spielen will. Jahre später verlässt Azadiya ihre Familie. In diesem Buch berichtet sie von familiärer Gewalt, behördlichen Steinen im Weg, dem Sexismus im ganz normalen deutschen Alltag - und ihrem unbedingten Willen, frei zu sein und anderen Frauen zu helfen, sich ebenfalls zu befreien.

Most people say change is a part of life. There are many things we experience throughout our lifetime which cause us to change direction. We may start a new romance which changes the direction our single life was taking us. Or we might find ourselves enduring a traumatic experience, also changing the direction life had us on. Some changes are for good, and some changes leave us forking money over to a really good therapist. That would be the kind of change you'll read about in The Impossible Change: Lesbian to Missionary. Priscilla Navaroli spent the majority of her life running. Running everywhere and to everything. Except to God, that is. There was no way in this chaotic life that she was living that she wanted anything to do with this God of the hypocrites. They could have their judgment, and they could keep their God. This is a story of the change which took place in her life. A change that nobody, not even the person living it out, saw coming. An impossible, almost unbelievable change that happened in one woman's life through the power of God. Priscilla Navaroli was born and raised in California. She currently lives in Texas and is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God. She is also a former pastor at Lone Star Cowboy Church in Montgomery, Texas, where she spent five years on staff. After her husband's death, she retreated to country living and enjoys life out in her home she calls 'The Shack.' She has three cats and two dogs that bring her so much pleasure. A life that will soon be changing as she heads out to embark on missionary work in the Dominican Republic. Priscilla is a fully appointed missionary with the Assemblies of God World Missions. Visit Hesaid-go.com.

Selbstakzeptanz in Zeiten des SchlankheitsdiktatsIn ¿Happy Fat¿ erzählt die dänische Comedian Sofie Hagen, wie sie der Dickenfeindlichkeit den Kampf angesagt hat. Sie hat Selbstakzeptanz in einer Welt gefunden, in der die Diskriminierung von Dicken allgegenwärtig ist. Sofie berichtet offen von alltäglichen Problemen, mit denen sich dicke Menschen konfrontiert sehen: beim Sex, im Flugzeug, beim Kleiderkauf oder einfach nur beim Essen in der Öffentlichkeit. Aber auch von fehlender Repräsentation, ihrem Queersein und einer Community, die ihr gezeigt hat, dass sie mit ihrer Forderung nach einer dicken Disney-Prinzessin nicht allein dasteht. Sofie Hagen gibt Leser_innen jeder Gewichtsklasse praktische Tipps und lässt dabei auch andere Fat-Liberation-Aktivist_innen zu Wort kommen.

'Ravishingly beautiful' Observer<BR>'Excruciatingly honest and yet vibrantly creative' Irish Times<BR>'Provocative and rich' Economist<BR>'Daring, chilling, and unlike anything else you've ever read' Esquire<BR>'An absolute must-read' Stylist<BR><BR>WINNER OF THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2021 <BR><BR>'A masterpiece. Proceed with caution' Phoebe Bridgers<BR><BR>In the Dream House is Carmen Maria Machado's engrossing and wildly innovative account of a relationship gone bad. Tracing the full arc of a harrowing experience with a charismatic but volatile woman, this is a bold dissection of the mechanisms and cultural representations of psychological abuse.<BR><BR>Each chapter views the relationship through a different lens, as Machado holds events up to the light and examines them from distinct angles. She casts a critical eye over legal proceedings, fairy tales, Star Trek and Disney villains, as well as iconic works of film and fiction, infusing all with her characteristic wit, playfulness and openness to enquiry. The result is a powerful book that explodes our ideas about what a memoir can do and be.