Sexing the Cherry, by Jeanette Winterson

Excerpt
Lies 1: There is only the present and nothing to remember.
Lies 2: Time is a straight line.
Lies 3: The difference between the past and the future is that one has happened while the other has not.
Lies 4: We can only be in one place at a time.
Lies 5: Any proposition that contains the word "finite" (the world, the universe, experience, ourseleves...)
Lies 6: Reality as something which can be agreed upon.
Lies 7: Reality as truth.

A Brief Summary
In the 17th century, orphan Jordan is taken in by the Dog Woman, a woman whose presence cannot be ignored, her size and her righteous violence spilling over margins. Where the Dog Woman is unreflective but present, Jordan exists in a world of dreams, going on voyages that are both physical and internal, including one with the twelve dancing princesses of old. Time, place, identity, sex, God weave in and out of a patchwork narrative.

The Gay
Sexing the Cherry touches on as many stories of women and sexuality, women existing in a sexual system that is defined by men, as it can, it seems, and its Twelve Dancing Princesses tell stories of infidelity, love, incest, and lesbianism. A lesbian romance it ain't, though.

My Thoughts
I'm something of a 16th-17th century nerd, as a Shakespeare scholar, and I loved the way that themes of identity and exploration that were so central at the time are taken here and reinterpreted in a post-modern, feminist way. I love the imaginative scope of the book. I am caught up on the image of young, modern girl dreaming herself as the Dog Woman, too immense to be invisible. The book is almost too dreamy for me, though, despite the immediacy of some of its more violent imagery, and its brevity makes it feel somewhat slight.

Star Rating
Overall: ★★★
Queer Content: ★★★