Pride 2024: A Q+ Celebration!
June 21
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Described as a Victorian murder mystery with a lesbian romance included, Fingersmith is a plot-heavy story that will leave you wondering why you didn’t read it sooner. Set in London in 1862, orphan Sue Trinder was raised by Mrs. Suckerby, who raised Sue as if she were one of her own. Mrs. Suckerby’s house also plays host to a family of petty thieves, which keeps life interesting indeed.
One day, one of the most popular men, known as Gentlemen, propositions Sue. He says if she can secure a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, another gentlefolk, and assists him in seducing her, then they can share Maud’s inheritance. He has a well-thought-out plan to dispose of the wealthy woman once payment is secured under the guide of lunacy, which is completely fitting for female characters in stories of this era.
She feels indebted to the family who raised her, so she agrees to assist. The plan, simple enough in its inception, is enacted without much fuss. But, what Sue doesn’t count on is developing a conscience and a connection to the woman she is supposed to be trying to take out, complicating matters entirely.
The plan takes on a life of its own then, and the narrative shifts from one of intrigue to one of duplicity and manipulation. In the end, without even seeing it coming, Sue finds herself at the center of the con artists’ plan to take what isn’t really theirs.
Described as a complex web of preposterous twists and turns that readers simply never see coming, Fingersmith has enjoyed a noisy response from readers online. It’s divided into three distinct parts, with the first and last section narrated from Sue’s point of view, and the middle one presenting Maud’s inner thoughts and desires. It’s been called a Dickens-like experience, but for lesbians, and honestly, could we ask for anything more special in Pride 2024?
Where to buy? Fingersmith is available to purchase from all reputable booksellers.
Drive Away Dolls
Drive Away Dolls is the story of Jamie (Margaret Qualley), an uninhibited free spirit who is lamenting over yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her shy, reserved, and exceptionally uptight friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan). Completely over their lives, both wildly unhappy with the current state of their affairs, and desperate for a change, the two girls decide to take a journey together, hoping to inject life back into their blackened souls.
Jamie and Marian decide to take an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but in true comedic fashion, absolutely nothing goes according to plan – because of course, it doesn’t! The car they hire punctures a tire, which leads the girls to go digging around in the trunk and find, yep, you guessed it – treasure.
Obviously, this car was intended for other hijynx and the girls were given it by mistake. The mystery suitcase in the back was stolen by a collector (Pedro Pascal) and was supposed to be delivered to its intended destination by a couple of crooked felons.
Shenanigans obviously ensue as the bad guys do everything in their power to get their treasure back, tantalizing the two leading ladies down a path of comedic chaos and all kinds of trouble. The film positions the queer female leads to be victorious, pushing the agenda that women (especially queer women) are powerful and strong! Which is a whole mood this Pride 2024.
The Coen Brothers Hollywood resume includes titles such as No Country For Old Men, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and True Grit. Drive Away Dolls is Ethan Coen’s first solo project, independent of his brother. Critics have called it a screwball 90s queer road trip movie – something that was sorely lacking during the actual 1990s.
Where to watch? Drive Away Dolls is available to rent and watch on Prime Video, YouTube, and Apple TV.
We Live Here: The Midwest
We Live Here: The Midwest is one of those documentaries that you just know is going to cause pain. As communities settle into a conservative uptick around the world, and discrimination picks up against the LGBTQ+ community, the need for storytelling like this has never been more important. We Live Here: The Midwest follows the lives of several queer families living in various parts of the Midwest in the United States – a region of America particularly vulnerable to this fresh wave of conservatism right now.
All of the people depicted in the documentary are ordinary Americans who desire love, happiness, and their version of the American Dream. They love their spouses, they love their children, and they’re out here doing their best to make a go of this thing we call life.
The continued polarized political views developing in the United States make living in a traditionally conservative part of the country challenging, to say the least. But they’re here to show you that their lives aren’t so different from yours, that their hopes and dreams probably look a lot like yours do.
The documentary focuses on six different groups of people. Some are transgender, some are in same-sex relationships trying to raise kids, some are political figureheads trying to make a difference for the community. They’re all from different cultural backgrounds and different races, and they represent a diverse range of professional identities, but they all share one thing in common: they live in communities that are trying to dismantle the LGBTQ+ community from existence.
We Live Here: The Midwest is about education and eradicating the ‘othering’ that conservatism is imposing on the queer community. The documentary is a testament to the idea that as humans, we all have more in common than we don’t.
Where to watch? We Live Here: The Midwest is available to stream on Hulu and Disney Plus.
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