Miller, Isabel - Books - Magic Bean Dip

Page 1 of 1 - Go to page: 1

Patience & Sarah (Little Sister's Classics)

Isabel Miller

Amazon Price: $12.51
List Price: ~~$16.95~~
Usually ships in 24 hours
By: Arsenal Pulp Press
Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $3.85

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Gay & Lesbian -> Literature & Fiction -> Fiction -> Lesbian
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Authors, A-Z -> ( M ) -> Miller, Isabel
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Contemporary

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"A remarkable story."-Publishers Weekly

Set in the nineteenth century, Isabel Miller's classic lesbian novel traces the relationship between Patience White, an educated painter, and Sarah Dowling, a cross-dressing farmer, whose romantic bond does not sit well with the puritanical New England farming community in which they live. They choose to live together and love each other freely, even though they know of no precedents for their relationship; they must trust their own instincts and see beyond the disdain of their neighbors. Ultimately, they are forced to make life-changing decisions that depend on their courage and their commitment to one another.

First self-published in 1969 in an edition of one thousand copies, the author hand-sold the book on New York street corners; it garnered increasing attention to the point of receiving the American Library Association's first Gay Book Award in 1971. McGraw-Hill's version of the book a year later brought it to mainstream bookstores across the country.

Patience & Sarah is a historical romance whose drama was a touchstone for the burgeoning gay and women's activism of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It celebrates the joys of an uninhibited love between two strong women with a confident defiance that remains relevant today.

This edition features an appendix of supplementary materials about Patience & Sarah and the author, as well as an introduction by Emma Donoghue, the Irish novelist whose numerous books include the contemporary Dublin novels Stirfry and Hood, the latter of which won the ALA's Gay and Lesbian Book Award in 1995.

Little Sister's Classics is an Arsenal Pulp Press imprint dedicated to reviving lost and out-of-print gay and lesbian classic books, both fiction and nonfiction. The series is produced in conjunction with Little Sister's Books, the heroic gay Vancouver bookstore well-known for its anti-censorship efforts.

Isabel Miller was the author of numerous novels, including two under her real name, Alma Routsong. She died in 1996.

Side by Side

Isabel Miller

List Price: ~~$9.95~~
By: Naiad Pr
Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $0.01

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Authors, A-Z -> ( M ) -> Miller, Isabel
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> World Literature -> United States -> General
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> World Literature -> United States -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

what a wonderful read! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is one of those books that after you are done you may not spend hours thinking about the plot, but you will always remember Sharon and Patricia. What a wonderful story. Who said that happy endings are not "in" anymore? It's nice to read a story about two women who overcome what they have to in order to be together. Sharon and Patricia are neighbors who are drwan to each other from early childhoood. They have an unbreakable bond in spite of their families, and later in life find each other again. Heart warming, funny, down to earth is the best way I can find to describe this wonderful book.

Prerequisite 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I just want to say that if you want to read this book, you will benefit by reading Patience & Sarah first (or at least the first half), also by Miller. There are many very deep parellels to these two books, and I imagine it would be rather difficult to fully enjoy this novel without the other.

Quirky novel 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is an odd little novel with lots of subplots. It starts out with one of the characters expressing the idea that these two souls have been lovers in many past lives and will be lovers again in the future. The fact that, in this life, they both happen to be female is just the luck of the draw. And they are drawn to each other from the cradle. Eventually, they have to overcome the effects of their families discovering their relationship, but the fact that they come back together is as natural as breathing. The rest of the story shows what it must have been like to be lesbian around the time of Stonewall and when the gay movement was fighting for this lifestyle to be accepted by the general public. There are also some glimpses of what older lesbians had had to go through and the stuggle between older and younger lesbians over whether or not to be activists in the movement. It's interesting that Patricia finds it easier to demonstrate against the Vietnam War, which did not involve her, than she did for gay rights, which did. There are some humorous scenes along their paths of discovery. Miller uses the unusual device of having one character tell her story in one chapter and then the other one tells the same events from her standpoint in the next. In all, it's a pleasant novel to read, but lacks the punch of some later writers.

The Love of Good Women

Isabel Miller

List Price: ~~$14.45~~
By: Women's Press Ltd,The
Amazon Marketplace: 12 new & used starting at $9.47

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Authors, A-Z -> ( M ) -> Miller, Isabel
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Contemporary
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> General -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

not just a novel for lesbians 4 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This author and her books are usually marketed to lesbian readers, but I think that many different kinds of readers would enjoy this story, especially female readers.
The book is set near the end of World War II and the main character, Gertrude, decides to get a job in the local factory producing munitions. Her husband comes from a higher socio-economic bracket than Gertrude does and she has never really understood him. He gives her mixed signals and since she dotes on him with real hero worship, she tends to assume that she did something wrong whenever his moods shift. In the case of her job, he seems to encourage her at first but then tries to discourage her from working.
The story alternates between Gertrude and her sister-in-law Millie who is a "pervert" (she dates women but is married to Gertrude's husband's brother.) As the story evolves, so do both Gertrude and Millie, each in their own ways. The story mostly focuses on Gertrude and her immense changes are all believable in the context of the story. Her development leaves the reader turning pages, eager to learn what part of Gertrude world-view will shatter next. There are plenty of surprises for the reader -- Gertrude does not choose the path I had expected her to choose when I first picked up the book!
This is an enjoyable story with depth of character about relationship dynamics in the 1940s and about two women making very difficult choices in the search for true love and happiness.