Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters, $25.95, hardcover
Filled with the songs, smells and costumes of late Victorian England. This book chronicles the adventures of Nancy King, who begins life as an oyster girl in teh provincial seaside town of Whitstable and whose fortunes are forever changed when she falls in love with a cross-dressing music hall singer named Miss Kitty Butler. This has garnered rave reviews in both mainstream and gay press.
The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank, $23.95, hardcover
NOT for outdoorswomen, but a novel about a straight woman, Jane, and her quest for love. Simultaneously a send-up of advice books such as "The Rules" and a serious exploration of how to love and understand one another better, Jane searches for ways to love that allow us to be most fully ourselves. She is a wonderful contemporary heroine, crackling with life, energy, and spirit, a vivid and wise guide to these lessons.
This unique biographgy reveals the dramatic story of the first woman U.S. Secretary of State. Blood focuses on teh defining moments in Madeleine Albright's life, identifying the periods that best open a window on the Secretary of State's uncanny ability to triumph over adversity, her unparralleled success in politics, and her+ meteoric rise to dominance in the world of foreign policy.
Powerful political novel paying homage to the unsung heroism of rural women who opposed apartheid in South Africa. A moving chronicle of resistance by women who-despite poverty and political persecution- rise up to fight for their land, their autonomy, and their children's future.