Lover
by
Bertha Harris
A landmark work of lesbian literature, Lover was
first published in 1972 by the now-defunct feminist press,
Daughters, to tremendous critical acclaim. Emerging out of the
women's and gay liberation movement alongside the early work of
such writers as Rita Mae Brown and Jill Johnston, the novel
features fictional and historical characters who run the gamut
from saint to poor white trash, and who are by turn vulnerable and
strong. One of the finest examples of early post-Stonewall lesbian
fiction, Lover is poised to entice a new generation of readers.
In this new edition, Harris reintroduces her
work, providing engaging background on the cultural and personal
milieu in which it was produced and painting a scathing and witty
picture of the book's original publisher. Revealing the real-life
personalities behind some of the novel's characters, the
introduction is an amusing retrospective sure to entertain those
who remember the heady post-Stonewall days, and to enlighten
younger readers.
A wonder...I was seduced by its tantalizing
elusiveness, its audacity, its sheer brio...a spellbinding, verbal
sleight of hand as satisfying as it is serpentine. --The
Washington Post Book World
Bertha Harris has created a woman's world as
relaxed and sisterly and funny as [Joan] Didion's is tense and
controlled. [She] presents a utopian vision of a world where women
are in charge of themselves, and where, it is nice to note, they
are very good company indeed. --The New York Review of Books
Violent, funny, beautiful, intelligent. --Jane
Rule
Harris, an American equivalent of Monique
Wittig,...is ingenious, sardonic, parodic. [She] explores the
various roles women have played: grandmother, mother, daughter,
sister, wife and second wife, businesswoman in man's clothing,
prostitute, factory worker, movie star, muse and tutelary spirit,
warrior, artist, fake saint, martyr. --Catharine R. Stimpson
The introduction [is] by turns funny, sad,
moving, and outrageous...[Harris] illuminates the New York women's
art and literary scene of the late sixties and seventies; the
introduction alone is worth the price of the book. Altogether,
Lover is everything a seduction should be--smart, unpredictable,
witty, provocative--and sexy. --Carolyn Allen, University of
Washington
About the Author
Bertha Harris is also the author of Confessions
of Cherubino and Catching Saradove. She lives in
Tennyson, Massachusetts, and continues to write compelling,
eccentric and faintly indecent fiction.
