Description
Book SynopsisFor Smith, "lesbian panic" is often a fear of losing one's identity and value within the heterosexual paradigm. This book traces the history of "lesbian panic" through key works: The Voyage Out and Mrs. Dalloway; The Little Girls and Eva Trout; King of a Rainy Country; The Golden Notebook; and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
Trade ReviewSmith's wise, provocative, and readable volume explores the 'disruptive action or reaction that occurs when a [female] character-or, conceivably, an author-is either unable or unwilling to confront or reveal her own lesbianism or lesbian desire.'... The author addresses the work of eminent modernists (e.g., Woolf, Spark, Lessing, Bowen) along with more experimental narratives (... Emma Tennant, Fay Weldon, Jeanette Winterson)... Smith resists easy explanations by addressing the political and cultural context of narrative ideologies...A genuine addition to lesbian and narrative studies and a balancing vision to politically motivated criticism. Choice
