The Parting Glass by Gina Marie GuadagninoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm surprised that more people don't put this into the Romance genre. Surely it's Historical, taking place in the early 1900's in New York City (think Gangs of New York movie timeline and you're perfectly in its place); but it's got some steamy lesbian moments and the majority of the story revolves around our characters having infatuations with one another.
Lesbians!
Easily the best part of The Parting Glass is the lesbian representation. It's honest and sincere. Gina Marie Guadagnino has also given us a lens into how impossible it was to be gay in the 1900's. If we all think it's hard today; we've got nothing on our ancestors. From a couple steamy lesbian scenes, to stolen kisses and forbidden thoughts Guadagnino doesn't leave anything unsaid or uncontested for our lead gal about how difficult life is being Irish, an immigrant and a lesbian.
Historical Context
It's clear that Guadagnino has done some research in order to understand the time period, it's societal challenges and linguistics. There is a moment in which our gal passes through Five Points and I couldn't help but imagine her walking next to Leonardo DiCaprio in Gangs of New York. We encounter the Irish struggles from two viewpoints in a way; even though the story is only told through the eyes of our lead gal. As a ladies maid whom can hide her Irish accent we see how high society feels and reacts; and on her nights off we see how an Irish gal might struggle to get by in this rough landscape. I felt the descriptions and context given to New York at this time were well done. However, I can't help but wonder how much of that is because I've seen Gangs of New York many, many times.
Overall
There were lots of things to love here from casual mentions of the penny dreadfuls (stories of horror in the day) to descriptive clothing styles to the challenges of horse drawn transportation and more. But I must say that without the lesbian representation I think I would have become bored. Maybe a good forbidden romance (regardless of sexual orientation) would have worked here no matter what; but for me I felt like I just wanted to know about our lovely girls and their destiny's.
Not a bad read; but not one I'd be quick to recommend. The Parting Glass gets 4 stars because of its LGBTQ+ representation where it otherwise probably deserves 3 stars.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
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1 comment:
It's interesting to see LGBTQ+ representation during different time periods. Maybe someday people will understand that it's been happening since forever, and isn't such a new concept after all!
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