Originally posted on Instagram 23rd February 2022

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reed (4 stars)

Yes, the title says ‘husbands’. Trust me, okay? This book tells of the tumultuous love life of Evelyn Hugo, a 60s Hollywood starlet, using a clever mix between flashbacks and the present that will leave you unable to put it down.

Girl, Woman, Other – Bernardine Evaristo (5 stars)

Evaristo uses a unique format to tell the stories of numerous women whose lives intersect. These women are all ‘other’ in some way—they are queer, they are Black, they are poor—and each of their stories compels. While not strictly speaking about a couple, this is on my must-read LGBT+ picks.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire – dir. Céline Sciamma

This 2019 French-language film covers the brief, passionate relationship of Marianne, a painter, and Héloïse, an aristocrat. Marianne is charged with painting Héloïse’s portrait for her future husband, but the two fall in love. Their romance is cut short, but it is not a tragic tale.

Elisa y Marcela – dir. Isabel Coixet

Also from 2019, this Spanish-language film is based on the true story of Elisa Sánchez Loriga and Marcela Gracia Ibeas, who posed as a heterosexual couple and became Spain’s first recorded married lesbian couple. Reviews for this film are mixed, but personally, I find it evocative and powerful, and would highly recommend.

Other recs:

• The Half of It – dir. Alice Wu (movie)
• Feel Good – written by Mae Martin and Joe Hampson (TV series)
• Do Revenge – dir. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (movie)
• Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? – Jennette Winterson (book; 4.75 stars)
• Excluded: Making Feminist and Queer Movements More Inclusive – Julia Serano (book; 3.5 stars)