The Swashbuckler

Gathered for the first time in one collection, these short stories from Lee Lynch represent a quarter century of passionate portrayals of lesbian women. Lynch chronicles the lives of old women who fall in love, a Black firefighter seeking her place in the feminist community, bar dykes unwilling to back down, the denizens of lesbian-owned Café Femmes, and Henny—who runs an urban fruit stand while regaling her baby butch assistants with tales from her life. Iconic characters from Lynch's novels also make an appearance: Frenchy Tonneau from The Swashbuckler and Annie Heaphy from Toothpick House.

Lee Lynch’s work is considered among the classics and a cornerstone in the large and permanent foundation of lesbian literature.

MJ Beaudry, an angry, brilliant, abused runaway, is dumped in Rainbow Gap, Florida, and almost immediately discovers an aptitude for crime. The lesbian cop who catches her expects good-hearted lovers Jaudon Vicker and Berry Garland to save the kid. Although Jaudon’s business has suffered a killing blow and she’s frantic to make it right, she was once a besieged gay kid herself and reaches out, only to find herself in cahoots with MJ. 

Berry is left in the dark, her own big dream on hold, and fears losing her love as Jaudon is swallowed by work and guilt. Berry, salt-of-the-earth Gran, besotted-with-MJ Vonnie Lowe, Allison the social justice warrior, and scofflaws Shady and Tad all stand behind Jaudon, but are they enough?

Or will it take this next generation of lesbians—MJ and Vonnie—to lead the way?

Jaudon Vicker and Berry Garland are polar opposites yet know they are meant to be together. Growing up in steamy backcountry Central Florida, they fight each other’s battles: Berry protects boyish Jaudon from bullies, Jaudon gives the abandoned Berry roots. They pledge that nothing will part them, not a changing Florida nor a changing America, not Berry’s quest for her spiritual path, nor Jaudon’s ambition for her family's business. When the war in Vietnam, politics, police, rough times, society itself, and other women threaten to come between them, their bond grows deeper. In the safety of their secluded tree house hideaway, they learn to dream, dance—and to make love.

Andy Blaine searches for the lover who has left her. Her odyssey will take her across the United States and a world of changes.

A Classic Title - Original Naiad Press Edition. Good condition.

This collection of Lee Lynch's columns chronicles over a quarter century of queer life in the United States, from the last decades of the twentieth century into the twenty-first.

"From the beginning of my writing career, I just wanted to write about lesbian/gay life as I experienced it. Like so many, I came from a place of great isolation. At the same time, being gay filled me with great pride and joy. Writers Jane Rule, Isabelle Miller, Radclyffe Hall, Valerie Taylor, Ann Bannon, and Vin Packer gave me inspiration and even the lesbian companionship I needed as a baby dyke. More than anything, I want to give to gay people what those writers gave me. And I want to do it well enough that my words might someday be considered literature and, as such, might endure because, as open as some societies have become, there are always haters, and cycles of oppression. Our writers strengthen us, offer a sense of solidarity and validation that we are both more than our sexualities and are among the best that humanity offers."