Lady Of The Moon [Paperback]

Amy Lowells contemporaries, writing at a time when lesbians were invisible, described her as an old maid. But as Lillian Faderman argues, Lowell wrote some of the most remarkable, barely encoded, lesbian poems since Sappho, while living in a Boston marriage with her muse, Ada Dwyer Russell. Lady of the Moon offers a combination of three voices on the Boston marriage of Amy Lowell and Ada Dwyer Russell. The first part contains a selection of Lowells love poems to Ada. The second part contains a scholarly essay by Lillian Faderman that analyzes these poems in relation to Lowells life. The third part contains a 27-sonnet sequence by Mary Meriam which draws from the first two parts and supports the story with imaginative details.

In this jewel of a volume, a great love is reanimated. Imagist Amy Lowells love poems to actress Ada Russell, pioneering lesbian-feminist scholar Lillian Fadermans landmark essay on Lowell and Russell, and contemporary poet Mary Meriams heartfelt sonnet sequence speaking to Russell in Lowells voice, combine to create a remarkable erotic and poetic event. Like Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Lowell and Russell had a great creative partnership that made an indelible mark on literary and lesbian history. Lowell called her tense and urgent love for Russell an amethyst garden; todays readers will find gems of all colors in Lady of the Moon.
Lisa L. Moore, author of Sister Arts: The Erotics of Lesbian Landscapes (Lambda Literary Award, 2012), and Professor of English and Womens and Gender Studies, The University of Texas at Austin

What an erotic trinity! Amy Lowells fiery poems about Ada Dwyer Russell; Lillian Fadermans illuminating essay about the couple and their Boston marriage; and Mary Meriams contemporary poems in Lowells lustful voice. Forget Amygism and Patterns: with this brilliantly edited selection of works by and about Amy Lowell, Mary Meriam restores Lowell tlS!