Marie Souvestre, whose influence lived on through former students like Natalie Barney and Eleanor Roosevelt.
“Although not strictly autobiographical, Olivia draws on the author’s experiences at finishing schools run by the charismatic Mlle. Julie and the other head of the school, Mlle. Julie, and through this screen of love observes the tense romance between Mlle. The innocent but watchful Olivia develops an infatuation for her headmistress, Mlle. Dorothy Strachey’s classic Olivia captures the awakening passions of an English adolescent sent away for a year to a small finishing school outside Paris. It feels more personal for its length, more like a small section from a lifetime.“Considered one of the most subtle and beautifully written lesbian novels of the century, this 1949 classic returns to print in a Cleis Press edition. Nothing is excessive, though the emotions are grand. It is a fairly quick read at not even 150 pages. If you are a fan of either, this book will likely strike your fancy. This novel is a short blend of Brontë and Rita Mae Brown. I loved the main character’s strength, which reads well from the frankness of the narrator’s tone. The naiveté and enthusiasm of our protagonist stands alongside a sturdy confidence. Instead, the author captures the ferocity of young love.
The boarding school is not a terribly unique location for the queer lit genre, oft-told in pieces such as Maedchen in Uniform and its updated twin, Loving Annabelle, but this story finds charm and handles its tragedy, not settling into the same absolute self-pitying despair that a many queer books may tailspin. The elder Olivia narrating is self-aware of her hyperbole and height of emotions. Balanced with a certain loveliness, it does not fall into a overly sentimental heap of first love. Its absolute frankness is one of its strongest charms. Atheism acknowledged in the first moments. Published in 1949, this book is remarkably blunt. Olivia, a sixteen year old with an eye for the romantic, is sent to Les Avons where she thrives and falls for one of the female heads of the school. This coming of age/first love book is set in late 19th century at a girls boarding school just a short distance from Paris. Dorothy Strachey Bussy)Ī semi-autobiographical account of Dorothy Strachey Bussy’s younger years, this lesser read queer novel is definitely worth picking up.
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