Lesbian Visibility in Loving Artemis -- from missing library books to marriage equality #LesbianVisibilityWeek #amreading #LGBTQhistory
- Janet Mason
- Apr 18
- 2 min read
In honor of Lesbian Visibility Week, I thought I'd post a brief excerpt from my novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage published by Thorned Heart Press. The novel is a coming-of-age story set in the 1970s, when lesbians were quite invisible. I've recorded an excerpt for YouTube and posted the text below that.
Grace walked over to the subject side and scanned the small
drawers until she came to K - R. She opened the drawer and flipped
through the index cards fastened at the bottom with a long metal rod
that went through a punched hole in the bottom of each one.
She was looking for the word lesbian. Her heart beat faster as she
approached the Le subject words. She went past Leaders, Political,
Leaves, Autumn Foliage, Lens, Camera. She reached the space where
Lesbian should've been, but there was nothing. She came to Lessons,
Swimming, and then Letters, Virginia Woolf. Maybe the card or cards
with the word Lesbian on them were misplaced. Grace went back
and looked again. The subject Lesbian wasn't there. There was nothing
where Lesbianism should have been, either.
Then she noticed something. At the bottom, where the metal
rod ran through the cards, were the lower portions of eight index
cards. She ran her fingers along the ragged edges and counted them
again. The top halves, where the typing would have been, were torn
off. Grace stared down at the bottoms of the index cards. It looked
like somebody tore them off on purpose. At first Grace was confused,
then she was outraged. But finally, she decided that this gave her
hope. There were eight missing subject headings where the word Lesbian
should have been. That meant there were eight books that were
probably still in the library somewhere.
You can get copies of my books at your local library, your local bookstore, or wherever books are sold online.
For more information on my novel Loving Artemis, an endearing tale of revolution, love, and marriage, click here.
For more information on my novel THEY, a biblical tale of secret genders published by Adelaide Books, click here.
CINNAMON, my most recent novel, is available on amazon.com: Cinnamon: A dairy cow’s (and her farmer’s) path to freedom: Mason, Janet: 9781958419786: Amazon.com: Books
CINNAMON is also available through your local bookstore and library
(just ask them to order it if they don’t have it).
To order your copy of my book Tea Leaves, a memoir of mothers and daughters (Bella Books) click here: Tea Leaves: Mason, Janet: 9781594932786: Amazon.com: Books
To learn more about my novel The Unicorn, The Mystery, click here:
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