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Jul 18, 1940 — —· 85 yrs

UNITED STATES AUTHOR · HISTORY · LESBIANS

Lillian Faderman

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Lillian Faderman received her Ph.D. in English from UCLA. She is the author of [Surpassing the Love of Men](/works/OL578925W/), [Scotch Verdict](/works/OL578928W/), two college textbooks on American ethnic literature, and numerous articles on women's relationships. Faderman is a Professor of English at California State University, Fresno and is currently a Visiting Professor of English at UCLA.

The Bronx, United States
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THIS IS A BOOK about how millions of American women became what they now are: full citizens, educated, and capable of earning a decent living for themselves.

— from To Believe in Women

Most acclaimed

#1

To Believe in Women

0.0 (0)

A groundbreaking women's history of America explores the roles of lesbian women in the battle to procure rights and privileges for Americans of both genders, arguing that these early female leaders had lesbian relationships free from the constraints of traditional ties that would have impeded their goals.

#2

Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers

4.5 (2)

Lesbian life in America continues to evolve. As Lillian Faderman writes, there are “no constants with regard to lesbianism,” except that lesbians prefer women. In this book, Faderman reclaims the story of lesbian life in twentieth-century America, tracing the evolution of lesbian identity and subcultures from early networks to today’s diverse lifestyles. Faderman samples from journals, unpublished manuscripts, songs, media accounts, novels, medical literature, pop culture artifacts, and rich firsthand testimony with lesbians of all races, ages, and classes, uncovering a surprising narrative of unparalleled depth and originality.

#3

Scotch Verdict

4.0 (1)

The Year: 1810. The Place: Edinburgh, Scotland. A student, Jane Cumming, accuses her school mistresses, Jane Pirie and Marianne Woods, of having an affair in the presence of their students. Dame Cumming Gordon, the wealthy and powerful grandmother of the accusing student, advises her friends to remove their daughters from the boarding school. Within days, the school is deserted and the two women deprived of their livelihood. Lillian Faderman, award-winning author of Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers, gives an extraordinary rendering of the real-life story on which Lillian Hellman based her famous play, The Children's Hour. Faderman reconstructs the libel suit filed by Pirie and Woods that eventually resulted in a scotch verdict - a verdict of not proven or an inconclusive decision. Through court transcripts, judges' notes, and her personal reflections on the witnesses' contradictory testimony and the prejudices of the men presiding over the case, Faderman skillfully documents the social, economic, and sexual pressures that shaped the lives of nineteenth-century women. Provocative and compelling, not only does Scotch Verdict point to the marginalization of women by raising issues of class, gender, and sexuality with respect to Pirie and Woods, but also of race in its depiction of Jane Cumming, the half-Indian child who was born in India and out of wedlock to Dame Cumming Gordon's eldest son.

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