No Modernism without Lesbians by Diana Souhami

The extraordinary story of how a singular group of women in a pivotal time and place – Paris, Between the Wars – fostered the birth of the Modernist movement. 
 
Winner of the 2021 Polari prize.
 
Sylvia Beach, Bryher, Natalie Barney, and Gertrude Stein. A trailblazing publisher; a patron of artists; a society hostess; a groundbreaking writer. 
 
They were all women who loved women. They rejected the patriarchy and made lives of their own – forming a community around them in Paris. 
 
Each of these four central women interacted with a myriad of others, some of the most influential, most entertaining, most shocking and most brilliant figures of the age. Diana Souhami weaves their stories into those of the four central women to create a vivid moving tapestry of life among the Modernists in pre-War Paris.
 
One of Erica's Best Books for 2020...
 
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'A book about love, identity, acceptance and the freedom to write, paint, compose and wear corduroy breeches with gaiters. To swear, kiss, publish and be damned. It is vastly entertaining and often moving ... There isn't a page without an entertaining vignette' The Times. 
 
'This is a book to keep you company on the long nights ahead and another glimpse into the complex lives and loves of those who have come before us.' - DIVA Magazine