Blog posts by The Menaces
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A Lavender Attic
‘LGBT+ archives,’ says Gerard Koskovich of the GLBT Historical Society of San Francisco, ‘are your queer grandma’s attic’. They are the place where younger generations will find our legacy.
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At the World’s End
Meggie’s Journeys by Margaret D’AmbrosioPolygon, 1987 A few days ago, #ReclaimTheseStreetsPorty, one of the groups formed after the abduction and presumed murder of Sarah Everard in London, attached a series of posters and banners to a fence at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh. ‘Our Bodies Our Minds Our Power’, said one. Others said, ‘Educate your sons.’…
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Mortimer’s Deep – A Medieval Story
Mortimer’s Deep by Simon TaylorBalnain Books, 1992 Translated into German by Rainer Schmidt. Published as Der Mönch by four German publishers including Weltbild (Augsburg, 2004). Mortimer’s Deep – It’s Origins Off the Fife coast, near the village of Aberdour, lies the island of Inchcolm, where the stark ruins of a monastery are visible across the…
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Unsung: the queer books that tell our story – the video
As part of this year’s LGBT History Month, Bob and Sigrid took part in a live webinar conversation on 24 February with Chris Creegan about how queer books tell our story. The conversation ran long over time with thought-provoking questions and comments from those who attended virtually – and their enthusiasm for the books, writers…
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Du Maurier’s Rebecca and Queer Culture
Why has Rebecca always had a reputation as a queer novel? Generations of gay men have declaimed the first line, spoken by Joan Fontaine in the 1940 film: ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again’. But for most of its 82 years in print, critics dismissed it as an ordinary gothic romance. It…
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We want your books
Lavender Menace’s queer books archive is growing. We are cataloguing several recent donations, including one from LGBT Health and Wellbeing, and making some exciting finds. We’re always looking for out of print and hard-to-find queer books. As everyone who loves books knows, collections can outgrow the space available. If you’ve been thinking that some of…
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Rebecca by Daphine du Maurier
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.Gollancz, 1938; Virago (present publisher). Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again… Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier’s best known novel, has never been out of print in 82 years. It’s generated sequels, retellings, films, tv series, an internationally staged musical, fanfiction, and a system of codes used by a Nazi…
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Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs
The Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs: A Revolution in Palaeontology by Adrian DesmondBlond & Briggs, 1975. QUEER DINOSAUR DISCOVERED! Some people may remember the ITV series based on this illustrated science book, now found mainly in charity shops. The queer dinosaur in the story of this book wasn’t a reptile, he was a human being – an eccentric…
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Mortimer’s Deep
Mortimer’s Deep by Simon TaylorBalnain Books, 1992. A house of men on an island at the end of the world… Mortimer’s Deep is a dangerous stretch of water in Fife. It lies between the village of Aberdour and the medieval monastery of Inchcolm on a stark, rocky island. Storms blow up quickly and, even on…
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Create your own queer LGBT+ digital books library
You’ve got your own collection of queer LGBT+ books at home, right? We are encouraging you to create your own queer LGBT+ digital books library and then share it with us. Our long term aim is to create a digital archive of queer LGBT+ out of print and hard to find books which will be…
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Murder in the Collective
Murder in the Collective by Barbara WilsonWomen’s Press, 1984ISBN 0704339439 ‘Safe spaces’ in 1984 were thin on the ground ‘Safe spaces’ for queer people were rarely heard of in 1984. This mystery by a lesbian writer explores the idea of ‘safe’ and ‘dangerous’. In a liberal, wealthy city, challenging the system isn’t supposed to lead…
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Maybe the Moon
Maybe the Moon Bantam Press 1993, a division of Transworld Publishers LtdISBN 0593 027655 The Lavender Menace LGBT+ Archive has been growing for about a year now. One of our books was rescued from a remainder shop – Maybe the Moon by Armistead Maupin, a hardback novel published in 1993. On the front is a…
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Welcome to our blog
We’ve already started blogging about the books in our growing archive – found in our own and friends’ collections and secondhand shops. And we invite you to join us.
Got any book recommendations?
