Reviews

The Farmer's Daughter by Robbi McCoy

elizatanner's review against another edition

3.0

Good book.

elvang's review against another edition

5.0

I chose to read this book because I have enjoyed Robbi McCoy's novels in the past and was curious to see why The Farmer's Daughter won this year's Lambda Literary award for Lesbian Romance.

My first impression was how much this book reminded me of the classic novel The Grapes of Wrath, with lesbians. Mutt's life is hard. She is forced to leave home and fend for herself in her teens. Her lean and rangy physique helps to give her the appearance of just another young hobo riding the rails, looking for work and living by her own rules. Like Tom Joad, Mutt finds herself working along side other itinerant workers in the California peach groves in less than ideal living arrangements with little financial reward. Unlike Tom, she has the added challenge of being a woman. She needs to hide in plain sight for survival, not for personal choice. Risk of discovery tempers her every decision. I was blown away by Mutt and the life she was forced to live.

Here's the thing. The book blurb is misleading. I wouldn't classify Mutt and Annie's relationship as a sweeping romance but theirs is a beautiful love story. Yes there is instant attraction. Mutt's first encounter with Annie opens her eyes to her own sexuality. She is not alone in her feelings and this brings Mutt comfort during the long hard years she endures before they meet once again.

What sets The Farmer's Daughter apart and above the average romance is the portrayal of the lives of women in the male dominant society of this era. Mutt embodies the realities of life as a not just a lesbian but a single woman living in the Forties and Fifties in North America. There were very few career opportunities for an uneducated woman living on her own. Mutt is able to find work only when disguised as a man. The bar she discovers which is a meeting place for other women who love women is not safe from police brutality. A woman who chooses to not follow the traditional path of housewife and homemaker will struggle to survive.

So it's the historical significance of the oppression faced by women in this era which makes The Farmer's Daughter a justly deserved award winner. Robbi McCoy has given us a sweet romance wrapped up in a historical masterpiece.

In this week when we join with Americans as they celebrate their newly won right to same sex marriage in all fifty States, it's fitting that we never forget the struggles of our sisters in the past.

A memorable read.