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A review by visorforavisor
Fanny and Stella: The Young Men Who Shocked Victorian England by Neil McKenna
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Neil McKenna’s Fanny and Stella is a mixed bag.
To sum up its positives: it’s a gloriously written perspective on an integral and often forgotten part of queer history; it is very respectful of the shifting, changing, unorthodox identities of the women themselves; it gives a concise and informative vignette of the situation for queer people in late-Victorian times; it shows the overlaps of the treatment of trans women and gay men in this era, because oppressors have never cared about the difference.
To sum up its negatives: it’s a really, really odd mixture of narrative and fact, unable to decide which it is, and which describes people’s thoughts and emotions in a manner bordering on conjecture; it appears at times to be grasping at straws for topics to fill the pages.
All of this said, it was a wonderful read which I strongly recommend to anyone looking to expand their knowledge of queer history of the era. It even references, in its epilogue, the even less famous 1884 trial of several Dublin Castle officials, which is far more complex than Fanny and Stella’s in its political implications. The style in which the book discusses the two women at its centre is reverent and respectful. It truly does feel like the book is honouring the two of them. As well as this, its discussions of sex work, homophobia, and other such facts of Victorian life were frank and easy to read.
Well worth picking up a copy of this!
To sum up its positives: it’s a gloriously written perspective on an integral and often forgotten part of queer history; it is very respectful of the shifting, changing, unorthodox identities of the women themselves; it gives a concise and informative vignette of the situation for queer people in late-Victorian times; it shows the overlaps of the treatment of trans women and gay men in this era, because oppressors have never cared about the difference.
To sum up its negatives: it’s a really, really odd mixture of narrative and fact, unable to decide which it is, and which describes people’s thoughts and emotions in a manner bordering on conjecture; it appears at times to be grasping at straws for topics to fill the pages.
All of this said, it was a wonderful read which I strongly recommend to anyone looking to expand their knowledge of queer history of the era. It even references, in its epilogue, the even less famous 1884 trial of several Dublin Castle officials, which is far more complex than Fanny and Stella’s in its political implications. The style in which the book discusses the two women at its centre is reverent and respectful. It truly does feel like the book is honouring the two of them. As well as this, its discussions of sex work, homophobia, and other such facts of Victorian life were frank and easy to read.
Well worth picking up a copy of this!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Transphobia