Why read The Famous Lady Lovers?

Book cover of The Famous Lady Lovers: Black Women and Queer Desire before Stonewall

Book description

Black queer women have shaped American culture since long before the era of gay liberation. Decades prior to the Stonewall Uprising, in the 1920s and 1930s, Black "lady lovers"-as women who loved women were then called-crafted a queer world. In the cabarets, rent parties, speakeasies, literary salons, and universities of…

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Topics

The Great Depression

Genres

American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Famous Lady Lovers as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Rebecca L. Davis

Author

I wanted to listen to Blues music all day after reading Woolner’s enlightening tour of queer Black women’s loves and lusts in the early 20th century United States. From fights that erupted in lesbian love triangles to affairs among Blues performers and their fans, Woolner keeps the story humming.

The book convinced me that “lady lovers,” as Black Americans called queer women at the time, created a vibrant world of desire, friendship, and love.

From Rebecca's list on history of queer love.