MY LESBIAN NOVEL

An experimental novel about writing a conventional novel.

“How will you start the novel you wish to write?” This is the opening sentence of a novel Gladman has, in fact, already written. The person who answers this question is Renee—designated by the initial “R” throughout the book—who might be the author of this novel, might be a character with the same name as the author, or might be both. R is in conversation with I. As R and her interlocuter continue to discuss R’s new novel, R refers to Gladman’s earlier works of fiction, which are also R’s earlier works of fiction. R explains that she’s working on a romance novel—more specifically, a lesbian romance novel. By now it should be clear that this is not a novel in any conventional sense of the word. The novel that R is writing as this interview stretches out over a period of years ultimately sheds many of the tropes associated with romance novels. R describes having to think about plot—something that has never interested her as a writer before—but readers looking for plot will be disappointed. What they will find instead is reflections on writing and reading. Gladman’s exploration of lesbians in fiction both popular and “literary” is interesting, as are her descriptions of how she works. As the text progresses, it becomes increasingly self-referential. R insists that she and the protagonist of her lesbian novel are different people, but she has to say this because it seems like maybe they are. By the time R explains that she doesn’t like to abandon a novel because then she has to write a novel about not being able to finish that novel—something Gladman already did in To After That (2008)—readers may be experiencing a sense of vertigo.

Playful, insightful, and potentially exasperating.