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Curious Wine Paperback – April 19, 2011
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Candid in its eroticism, intensely romantic, remarkably beautiful, CURIOUS WINE is a love story that will remain in your memory.
- Print length264 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBella Books
- Publication dateApril 19, 2011
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.5 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-101594932557
- ISBN-13978-1594932557
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About the Author
Honors and awards include four Lambda Literary Awards, the Bill Whitehead Lifetime Achievement from the Publishing Triangle, the Pioneer Award from the Lambda Literary Foundation, and a profile in USA Today. Senior editor at the storied Naiad Press for ten years, she is currently supervising editor at Spinsters Ink and editor-at-large for Bella Books.
Product details
- Publisher : Bella Books; Reprint edition (April 19, 2011)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 264 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1594932557
- ISBN-13 : 978-1594932557
- Item Weight : 8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #519,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #15,553 in LGBTQ+ Romance (Books)
- #29,577 in American Literature (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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The first half is awful with the friend group being awful to each other. Then there’s an on page sexual assault of the main character. She doesn’t appear to be traumatized as she then moves on to a sex fest with her female love interest the same night.
But there is a happy ending so I can see why people in the 80’s loved this so much. I guess.
Right off the bat, Diana noticed Lane on the first page. She was drawn to her, just as Lane was drawn to her. They just couldn’t help it. It was nice to see that they were both in their 30’s and had lived life. Marriage, many sex partners, careers and etc. When Diana talked to her father, she used words that let me know that these two were SOULMATES. It was inevitable for them to meet and fall in love. Everything in their lives, led them to each other. I am so glad that it did. I fell in love with both of them. I fell in love with Lane as Diana gave herself over to her. These two people will forever be etched into my heart.
For younger generations (certainly those of us born in the mid 70s and later) "Curious Wine" is a tad dated, set in the late 70s and published in the early 80s. Being born in the 80s myself there were places where the dating of the book jarred me out of the story. This was done with mention of pop culture items but it was also the generation of the characters themselves: the things they found shocking, and the fact that times have changed and it is much easier and safer to be out of the closet nowadays than it was in the 70s when this book takes place. And perhaps, too, it would help if the reader was of a comparable age to those in the book; the main characters were in their mid 30s and others were in their 40s.
The book lacks character build-up and we're thrown immediately into this group of strangers (people strange/new to the main character) and it is difficult at first to keep everyone straight (no pun intended). However, the author manages to make up for this with decent and humerous dialogue. Again, sometimes some of the phrases the characters use are a bit dated but for the most part the banter feels natural. And because most of the book is dialogue the story pulls you right along. Where at first I felt a bit put off by the difference in age and generation and general 'straightness' of the characters, the dialogue eased me into the story until I stopped noticing the turning of pages and instead was immersed in the romance blossoming between the main characters.
Of course, the *point* of the book is romance and despite the clichéd setting (Lake Tahoe cabin in a ski area) the pacing of the forming relationship between the main characters works. Despite the then taboo nature of lesbian relationships, the characters aren't shackled with guilt and instead focus on just being with one another as much as they can on the sly. For me, the 'we must keep this secret' side of things actually makes the romance a bit more intense, so in that respect the 'datedness' of the book helps.
"Curious Wine" has been praised in some circles (especially on Amazon.com) as THE best lesbian romance novel. I've certainly read more satisfying books with lesbian characters (particularly Sarah Waters novels or books by Jacqueline Carey) but most of these books aren't written strictly as romance. "Curious Wine" is that - its almost a PWP (porn without plot/plot, what plot?) except that the sex is never written in a vulgar manner and the author manages to make good use of the poetic side of the English language to illustrate what it is the characters are doing without coming off as prudish.
So if you are looking for a book about lesbian romance that gets to the point - the romance, the eroticism, etc. but isn't some cheap porn, this book is for you.
Top reviews from other countries
Enjoyed the book.
Will there be a sequel ?
Diane is depressed about breaking up with her boyfriend. As she meets the group she instantly bonds with the gorgeous but cool Lane, high powered lawyer with a trail of downtrodden men. The remaining four women are led by Liz, the angry and bullish "first wife", Chris her uptight and narrow-minded spinster sister, Millie the aging hippy and Madge who's too scared of the truth to find out if she is being betrayed. Add into the mix a large quantity of alcohol and some grass; a meltdown is bound to happen.
Needless to say the encounter games don't go to well, feelings of pain and anger get out of hand and rather than bonding the group ends up hurting each other with truths they don't want to know. Out of which the sensitive Diane reaches out to Lane for comfort. One thing leads to another and suddenly they are on the verge of a sexual encounter.
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Let me start by saying I LOVE THIS BOOK. Yes its short and obvious and so unrealistic.. but i love the characters, the story is so sweet, and i can fogive the dated games, clothes and behaviour because of what it represents.
Curious Wine was Katherine V. Forrest's first novel, published in 1983 and is without a doubt a classic. It is one of the groundbreaking novels of its generation, it moved away from the pulp fiction into romance, was solidly about women and was written by a lesbian for lesbians.
Today many reviews criticize it for the soppy and cheesy sex, the paucity of terminology and the unlikelihood of two `straight' women having sex, falling in love and deciding to live happily ever after in 3 days. People - normally women who probably were barely born in 1983 - complain about the ridiculous encounter games, the dated fashions and the shallow plot and characterisation.
But to do so is to take the book out of context. This is a first novel written in a virtual vacuum of lesbian romance. In 1983 women did try to bond in stupid games, they were this nasty to each other - they thought they were `helping' when in retrospect they were destroying each other. At that time there was virtually no current lesbian fiction - the pulp fiction of the 50's and 60's was homophobic and frequently written for a sleezy male audience. And the sexual norm of the day was either Deep Throat style porn or uptight bosom heaving Mills and Boon.
If you want to read an novel full of deep characters agonizing over coming out, or compare this to modern sexplicit girl on girl action you will be disappointed. But it is a great novel. It is well worth the read - at 160 pages it wont even take too long. And it deserves the title classic for its groundbreaking exploration of a woman's reaction to her first lesbian encounter.







