The newest edition to my erotica collection by Cleis Press is filled with delectable language and rich descriptions of women’s desires: from butches to femmes and girls lost in translation and wounded by love, to ordinary women discovery their inner vamps after thirty years of togetherness. Lesbian Lust, Erotic Stories (2010), is a literary joyride thanks to some of the best erotica mavens in the business, and a testament to the editorial skills of Sacchi Green.
I have a confession to make on this on: these stories were strong enough to make even this straight girl sigh like a preteen discovery romance novels for the first time. Except, these stories are anything but cheesy.
In ‘A story About Sarah,’ Cheyenne Blue writes a beautiful and tender homage from one woman to another, lifelong companions in mining camp of Australia’s rugged outskirts.
“What do I love: I love this land; I love its silence and its emptiness.” Melly tells us. “I love the red rocks that jumble along the creek. I love the gargle of magpies in the morning. I love how under my hands food comes together to make a meal. And I love Sarah.”
In mostly third person prose, we learn how they met, the unlikely discovery of their attraction, and the maturation of their love through the years as they transform from awkward teenage girls to middle-aged women with simple needs that include mostly one another. One gets the sense that this story continues on even after the final line – “this is a story of Sarah. Sarah and Me. Together.” – so real they feel as lovers in an unlikely time and place.
Not all the stories wrap-up so neatly. Some are filled with lust, heartache and wounds that tether the protagonists to their own personal, sometimes destructive, needs. ‘Canvas’ by Kenzie Mayer exposes the sexual depravity of an artist who will do anything - sacrifice herself, her body and her relationship, to fund her painting - which comes across more as a very dangerous habit once you reach the end of her intimate tale.
She whispers, her breath stirring against my face, "You don't even know our names, do you?"
I really don't. But, to be fair...I can barely remember my own name right now. I shake my head no. I can't stop trembling.
"She's bad. We should make her earn our forgiveness." The redhead pulls back and sits up. "And you'll do anything to make us forgive you, won't you?"
Yes, I really will.
"No matter how humiliating. How degrading."
In this tale, there is no safe word and no happy ending. The lines between hurting and harming are crossed, and the damage ends up being inflicted on all those in this tangle.
Rachel Kramer Bussel’s story, ‘Swollen’ is apropos for an anthology about lesbian, but it transcends love between women. This is a heart-rendering composition of a pregnant woman’s reclamation of her sensuality and self worth after being abandoned. Against the backdrop of the Hawaiian tropics, her new lover coaxes her to healing.
I'd become so used to being on my own that having this hushed conversation felt strange, like we were breaking some kind of rule...It was then that I saw the tattoo on her wrist, the one thing that seemed to set her apart. It was a purple heart, cracked in half, the jagged edges captivating; I wondered why she'd want to commemorate heartbreak.
We are reminded that there is no greater evidence of a woman’s sexuality then her belly ripe with child; no stronger evidence of heartache than tears; no stronger evidence for love than total acceptance. And sometimes, the way to overcome our grief is by helping another overcome their own.
Lesbian Lust presents eighteen stories from such notables as R.G. Emanuelle, Teresa Noelle Roberts, Andrea Dale, Delilah Devlin and C.B. Potts, and it runs the gamut of females and the games they play in the pursuit of love, lust and intimacy. On occasion, the book strays into areas that enthusiasts of milder forms of erotica might find uncomfortable, and very seldom one will read a clichéd passage that doesn’t fit with the overall well developed package. All together, however, Modern Love believes that Green’s sensitivity to the topic is evident in how she presents female desirability, romance and raw sexuality, making this erotica a pleasurable and corporal read for lovers of many persuasions.
Lesbian Lust, Erotic Stories, edited by Sacchi Green is available by Cleis Press.
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