Patience and Sarah

Patience and Sarah surprised me. A story of lesbian lovers, set in 1816 and published in 1969 by Isabel Miller, it was delightful -- unexpectedly so. The title is often referenced in queer non-fiction (and in later fiction, for that matter) so for a long time I knew it was important, but I wasn't sure why.

I opened it anticipating depressed and angsty characters, oblique yearnings, and disappointments -- maybe even a tragic end to round things out. Instead, it turned out to be a bright, open, occasionally funny, and generally upbeat novel with engaging and forthright heroines. It's not a work of genius, but a solid and enjoyable piece of storytelling. Nice, I thought, but why all the fuss? It's not so extraordinary. No Well of Loneliness this, no Maurice...

The point hit me a day or two later: it is not like the early classics of queer fiction. It is significant because it represents a paradigm shift, both culturally (the Stonewall riots happened that same year) and in literature. Gay and gender non-conforming people finally had the hope of living freely and openly -- and of seeing their lives reflected positively in fiction.