mtstellens 's review for:

After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz

5.0

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A series of vignettes that cover the queer literary and art movements in Europe during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The book was just so beautiful it reads like a poem in the best way. I really wish that I had had more of a background to these women and so that I had more context. The women that I did know more about made the book so much richer so this makes me want to reread this once I know more about this period in history. I like the Greek chorus inserts, it made me feel like I was one of the queer women gathered around the lighthouses of the era. The way that this book talks about the different sects of these movements. Agan, this book also talked a lot about the politics of the time, making me want to go back and learn more about the history of the time and read this again. The style of the book also fits with the time period very well while also being it’s own thing. The choices the author made as far as who to include (especially men) in the narrative is interesting. Women are often erased in men’s stories so it was interesting to see men that are important in these women’s lives being removed. I don’t think it was bad, just an interesting way to reframe these narratives in the same way that it is in men’s stories. It was just a beautiful book in every way.