Book description
Jean Genet's masterpiece, composed entirely in the solitude of his prison cell. With an introduction by Jean-Paul Sartre.
Jean Genet's first, and arguably greatest, novel was written while he was in prison. As Sartre recounts in his introduction, Genet penned this work on the brown paper which inmates were supposed…
- Coming soon!
Why read it?
2 authors picked Our Lady of the Flowers as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
The fact that this queer masterpiece was written entirely in the solitude of a prison cell is only the first of many awe-inspiring truths about the book and its author. The drag queen Divine, a pimp named Darling Daintyfoot and Our Lady populate the book (published in 1943) offering a glimpse into a voluptuous Parisian fringe world. It was the thrilling—at times disturbing—story that first drew me in as a budding writer, but ultimately it was my realization that a book can be at once highly artful and literary as well as deeply erotic. It opened up a new freedom…
From Scott's list on LGBTQ with lush prose and rich settings.
One of the first books I bought that could be considered subversive literature, Our Lady still remains as vital as ever as we are plunged into the gay underworld of Paris with its criminal code, juvenile delinquents and male prostitutes dreamed up by the author whilst doing time for burglary, ‘I can muse in comfort on the lovely dead of yesterday, today and tomorrow.’ Genet’s isolation goes beyond that of even the most disciplined author just as his life experience gives the book its fantastic reality that is infused with the odors of poison flowers and spent lust.
Our Lady…
From Nina's list on decadence & the supernatural.
If you love Our Lady of the Flowers...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
Want books like Our Lady of the Flowers?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Our Lady of the Flowers.
Share your top 3 reads of 2025!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,277
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like Our Lady of the Flowers, you might also like...
The Bridge
The Bridge provides a compassionate and well researched window into the worlds of linear and circular thinking. A core pattern to the inner workings of these two thinking styles is revealed, and most importantly, insight into how to cross the distance between them. Some fascinating features emerged such as, circular…
And Then They Were Gone
Of the 918 Americans who died in the shocking murder-suicides of November 18, 1978, in the tiny South American country of Guyana, a third were under eighteen. More than half were in their twenties or younger.
The authors taught in a small high school in San Francisco where Reverend Jim…
