Sadie Groner

Staff Writer

This post was originally published on October 1.

Recently, I’ve picked up the habit of perusing my bookcases – studying the attempts at organization, watching how quickly they descend into mayhem. But while I’ve been persistently chiding myself for my poor shelving skills, I’ve also been playing a sort of game with it: I pick any book, and through common themes, tropes, or genres, I trace connections between dozens of mismatched novels. 

In the compiling of this short list, I’ve included works of varying genres, complexities, and thematic elements, though all with some element of women loving women, or WLW,  romance. My hope is that if you are new to the sapphic genre, you can use these books as a sort of road map for your ‘do’s and don’ts’. Alternatively, if you are already well-versed in lesbian lit, maybe I can encourage you to engage with an unfamiliar piece or two.  

So, without further ado, let’s explore four of my favorite sapphic novels.  

1.  On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

Set in a fantastical, deep space sci-fi, we are introduced to our main character Mia, the newest addition to a chaotic team of architectural restorationists. Traveling through the galaxy to rehabilitate labyrinthine chapels and bisected office buildings, Mia finds that old wounds might not be as permanent as she had once thought. In fragmented chapters interspersed throughout the graphic novel, we watch as a younger Mia meets and falls in love with the eccentric and mysterious Grace, who is now notably absent. We then journey across the stars to find and reunite these two lost lovers, learning all the while that strength and support is possible through the love of found family. Illustrated just as beautifully as it’s written, Walden truly produces a work of art.  

2.  Fair Play by Tove Jansson

Fair Play follows artist Jonna and writer Mari as they leisurely explore what it means to lead life through their love and creativity. In a relationship spanning decades, the women laugh, create, and grow by each other’s sides. But whether they are watching one too many classic films, stranded in a fog drenched sea, or housing an eccentric old puppeteer, Mari and Jonna invariably find ways to surprise themselves, each other, and their reader with the authenticity they inspire.

Throughout the novel, Jansson encourages deeper contemplation into the quiet actions that make up our daily lives, while reminding us that change is slow, perfection irrelevant, and our choices important, no matter the size. If you are an artist, a lover, a human, you will undoubtedly find something of worth in the adventures of Jonna and Mari.

3.  Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson

Winterson’s Written on the Body, follows an unnamed, womanizing romantic as she seeks out intimacy in its extremity. Love deprived and sex drunk, she pursues brief but intense forays with other women, until her, or their, fanatic attentions fade. Few women have kept her attention longer than a few months, and as years pass and countless relationships start and end with a similar boredom, our romantic resigns herself to a love that is fleetingly burning and then all too obligatory. That is… until Louise.

Our narrator fights to discover the depth of her love for another as along the way, she fights to find love for herself. A sensual and obsessive novel written in awe-inspiring prose – I can’t imagine you can read more than the first 20 pages without feeling seen and shaken. Winterson’s unbelievable skill as a poet devours the reader.

4.  If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho translated by Anne Carson

This list could not be called complete without an inclusion of Sappho’s poetry. Through preserved fragments of papyrus and the citations of ancient authors, translator Anne Carson gathers the archaic lyrics of Sappho into a new tongue. While every poem in this collection is incomplete, some even as short as two words, Carson transforms their unintended abstraction into wisps of depth and feeling. In a way, I imagine it echoes the forgotten extravagances of a long past age.

Sappho was a poet and musician of Ancient Greece, and in her work often calls upon the wisdom and intervention of the gods, none more favored than the goddess of love, Aphrodite. As Carson masterfully weaves together these fractured lyrics, Sappho’s devotion to love seeps into every word, so that the broken phrase “…Atthis for you…” steals my breath. To hear Sappho describe her lovers, you would imagine Aphrodite herself had come to walk the earth all to tempt a song from her lips. 

If you saw a novel on this list that you’re interested in reading, every one of them is freely available through our Penn State library, as well as on Libby. All authors, besides Anne Carson, also have their own websites featuring personal artwork, poetry, and biographies for further enjoyment.