Compton mackenzie lesbian novel

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. I'm not sure I'd call it either. Of course, the reason I'm reading this book is that she mentions it in the early s afterword to The Friendly Young Ladies , alongside her reaction to The Well of Loneliness. There's nothing tortured about women loving women or women chasing women in Extraordinary Women , it's all very matter-of-fact and treated as much as every other human folly. But as one might expect from a humourous rather than a serious novel, all the protagonists are pretty shallow. So I would call this a light and easy read, fun but forgettable.

Allan Massie. You get no sense from him that he feels his work has gone to pieces. The war wrecked him as it did Wells and many of that generation. The other is Extraordinary Women, scandalous at the time on account of its lesbian theme. Both books remain amusing and readable.

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover.

Extraordinary Women is Compton Mackenzie 's twentieth novel. It is a satire [1] [2] [3] set on the island of Sirene, a fictionalized version of the real island of Capri , [4] and his second novel to be set in this location. The novel features many characters that are recognizable caricatures of lesbian women Mackenzie knew or knew of, including author Radclyffe Hall and artist Romaine Brookes. The plot deals primarily with the romance between Rosalba Donsante and Rory Freemantle, although other minor characters play a role within the novel as a whole. Rosalba's primary motivation when selecting her lovers is monetary, as she has little money of her own, and must appeal to her grandmother whenever she needs ready cash.