Nettleblack by Nat Reeve
Apr. 28th, 2023 07:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee34I belong to a couple of reading groups hosted by the Victorian Popular Fiction Association; one of them, the Third Sex Reading Group, discussed the neo-Victorian Nettleblack by Nat Reeve this past week, and the author joined our discussion.
This book is fantastic, y'all. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's got lesbians, a gay male couple, a nonbinary character, and characters of color, and it depicts a thriving queer community--all without resorting to anachronisms. The novel doesn't pretend that period-specific homophobia didn't exist, and it is impeccably researched (so many glorious nods to the literature and art of the time, particularly the pre-Raphaelites, which is Reeve's scholarly area of interest), but that's not the focus of the novel.
Nettleblack is fun. It's funny. It's wacky hijinks with lady detectives and a violent ferret. It's not the misery porn of so many neo-Victorian novels; this novel is not burying its gays. It's celebratory.
This is as good a time as any to announce that my oldest kiddo, Emma, is now going by Dylan and using they/them pronouns. This is a new development of this semester (although they have been using a binder since they left for college); they are not trans, and they are not really using any particular label like nonbinary at this time. They have explained it to us that they just feel/want to be more gender neutral. They are fine with us using daughter/sister to describe them.
At a time when it is frightening to be gay or trans or nonbinary, I am ecstatic to have this novel in which my daughter can see themselves celebrated, and I can't wait to show it to them. I may have teared up a bit at Reeve about this who took it in great stride and said that was their aim in writing this novel, a kind of reparative writing a la Felski and Sedgwick. (I will never forget the day when Dobbs was overturned and Dylan looked at me and said, "Well, I guess that's started it. I'll never get married now." I cannot describe how gut-wrenching it is that I cannot tell my child not to be afraid; they have every reason to be afraid. There's much to fear.)
So, go read this book. It's fantastic. Nat Reeve is fantastic. So stoked to have been able to meet them (they are so delightfully bashful and a wonderful Victorian scholar with a focus on Elizabeth Siddal).
Nettleblack by Nat Reeve
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is absolutely fantastic--a thoroughly queer Neo-Victorian novel told in epistolary format (journal entries mostly). Extremely funny, emotionally moving, evocative prose, a satisfyingly twisty plot. This is fun from start to finish. Highly recommend.
View all my reviews
This book is fantastic, y'all. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's got lesbians, a gay male couple, a nonbinary character, and characters of color, and it depicts a thriving queer community--all without resorting to anachronisms. The novel doesn't pretend that period-specific homophobia didn't exist, and it is impeccably researched (so many glorious nods to the literature and art of the time, particularly the pre-Raphaelites, which is Reeve's scholarly area of interest), but that's not the focus of the novel.
Nettleblack is fun. It's funny. It's wacky hijinks with lady detectives and a violent ferret. It's not the misery porn of so many neo-Victorian novels; this novel is not burying its gays. It's celebratory.
This is as good a time as any to announce that my oldest kiddo, Emma, is now going by Dylan and using they/them pronouns. This is a new development of this semester (although they have been using a binder since they left for college); they are not trans, and they are not really using any particular label like nonbinary at this time. They have explained it to us that they just feel/want to be more gender neutral. They are fine with us using daughter/sister to describe them.
At a time when it is frightening to be gay or trans or nonbinary, I am ecstatic to have this novel in which my daughter can see themselves celebrated, and I can't wait to show it to them. I may have teared up a bit at Reeve about this who took it in great stride and said that was their aim in writing this novel, a kind of reparative writing a la Felski and Sedgwick. (I will never forget the day when Dobbs was overturned and Dylan looked at me and said, "Well, I guess that's started it. I'll never get married now." I cannot describe how gut-wrenching it is that I cannot tell my child not to be afraid; they have every reason to be afraid. There's much to fear.)
So, go read this book. It's fantastic. Nat Reeve is fantastic. So stoked to have been able to meet them (they are so delightfully bashful and a wonderful Victorian scholar with a focus on Elizabeth Siddal).
Nettleblack by Nat ReeveMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is absolutely fantastic--a thoroughly queer Neo-Victorian novel told in epistolary format (journal entries mostly). Extremely funny, emotionally moving, evocative prose, a satisfyingly twisty plot. This is fun from start to finish. Highly recommend.
View all my reviews
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Date: 2023-05-05 10:51 am (UTC)