Status
Available
Call number
Series
Collection
Publication
Picador (2002), Edition: First, 272 pages
Description
In a steam-filled diner in a college town, Flannery Jansen catches sight of something more beautiful than she's ever seen: a graduate student, reading. The seventeen-year-old is shocked by her own desire to follow this beauty wherever it will take her. As luck would have it, Flannery finds herself enrolled in a class with the remote, brilliant older woman: she is intimidated at first, but gradually becomes Anne Arden's student outside of class as well. Whatever the subject -- Baudelaire, lipstick colors, or how to travel with a lover -- Flannery proves an eager pupil, until one day she learns more about Anne than she ever wanted to know.
User reviews
LibraryThing member bobbieharv
Another slight lesbian novel; even less engaging than Patricia Highsmith's early lesbian novel.
LibraryThing member fireblossom32
This is exactly what it's like to be young, in a new place, and to fall completely, helplessly into first love with someone who may or may not deserve it. The ending made me absolutely sob, I was wrecked for a week. But that's why I love it so much...it rings so true and moved me so much. Been
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there, done that, and will never forget. Show Less
LibraryThing member whirled
Pages for You is a vivid and passionate evocation of the rollercoaster ride of first love. For most of the novel, I was totally jealous of the young protagonist, Flannery, because all my crushes on older, well-read women during university remained sadly unrequited. By the end, suffice to say my
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envy had dissipated. A well-written and mildly sexy romance. Show Less
LibraryThing member triplestripe
Interesting enough read, well written. Sad ending.
LibraryThing member senbei
In response to a simple adverb phrase found on page 17 (“emerald mockery”), I wrote this in my marginalia:
Bloody genius. The mockery of her eyes. Deeper level of meaning: she hasn’t witnessed it but she desires it! Difficult to set up even in a narrative. Even more difficult: forcing the
Generally I’d never bother with such in depth annotation on a single two word phrase, preferring instead to look at the piece objectively as a whole when and if I review it. In truth, my notes on Brownrigg’s “Pages for You” have ended up filling several pages, with a great deal more left uncommented, but for which I chose instead to just use highlighter for future reference and inspiration.
Reading this ostensibly young adult novel actually took this English major turned library science grad the majority of the year before I’d let myself finish it. Having purchased the book in January and made it through a few chapters, I forced myself to stop and read only segments at a time--to savor the first reading. Somewhere around the end of March I apparently had my attention pulled back to Pages for the incredible middle segment of the novel, but again I stopped before I became addicted. Finally I came to the turning point in the novel and the foreshadowing helped me to decide to procrastinate it a little, and eventually I wound up finishing it here in the end of November.
There are, of course, other striking poetic novels and even other poetic novels with lesbian themes--one might easily point to Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s 1856 magnum opus, Aurora Leigh, as being the grandmother of such a genre (and perhaps a source of inspiration for Brownrigg). However, Pages for You is only separated from today’s reader by one decade, rather than sixteen and for this reader, it was a decade of reflection back to a time when she lived an experience all but identical to Flannery’s. When Browning was writing Aurora, a great many readers could understand the underlying tensions, but it had minor impact in the way so many of us today can finally relate to Brownrigg’s baby dyke bildungsroman. In point of fact, as I finished the novel this morning, on page 268, upon the words, “via campus mail” (referring to Flannery returning Anne’s apartment keys), I made the notation, remarking of Brownrigg, “Holy shit, this person has lived my life.”
"What did you do? I've--I've never felt anything like that before" (126), quoth Anne. To which I once wrote in my marginalia, "What a coincidence. I've never read anything this beautiful yet arousing before,” and indeed I have not. When Brownrigg decided toward the end of the piece (one might imagine an ending altered by her current mood) to break the fourth wall and indicate to her readers the difficulty in getting this novel published I empathized, and am very glad someone took a chance on it. It isn’t the sort of thing that fits well into today’s publishing model: far from being an Eragon or Hunger Games, Pages for You is a piece of lesbian memoir writing, wrapped in a fictional narrative, buried under a blanket of frozen language, separated by a gulf of poetic allusion...aimed at a young female readership. Emotionally or plot-wise, it’s also not quite what a parent would necessarily be looking to find on a daughter’s bookshelf…
…or maybe it is. The ending as written does not indicate to the reader whether or not Flannery continues to love women in the future, but it’s hard to miss the implication that falling in love with another woman can lead to heartbreak. Although the implication might be only as benign as to say that older women have baggage… Or simply that giving away one’s trust has consequences (so be prepared for a decade of PTSD and melancholy memoir writing). There is thankfully no implicit happily ever after as one might expect to find if Pages had been written by Malinda Lo. On page 217 when “Anne was forever telling Flannery, she had plenty of time,” I actually commented, “It’s ironic what horribly bad advice that is.” And so, I’m actually having difficulty imaging a case in which I would offer this piece as reader’s advisory to a teenager, but for a 20s or 30s-something reader like myself who’s already lived through just such an experience or two as Flannery encounters, it’s perfect.
If forced, in the end, to make that ugly overarching single sentence analysis, about Pages for you I might say:
Lyrical bliss.
Bloody genius. The mockery of her eyes. Deeper level of meaning: she hasn’t witnessed it but she desires it! Difficult to set up even in a narrative. Even more difficult: forcing the
Show More
reader to pull out and analyse an adverb!Generally I’d never bother with such in depth annotation on a single two word phrase, preferring instead to look at the piece objectively as a whole when and if I review it. In truth, my notes on Brownrigg’s “Pages for You” have ended up filling several pages, with a great deal more left uncommented, but for which I chose instead to just use highlighter for future reference and inspiration.
Reading this ostensibly young adult novel actually took this English major turned library science grad the majority of the year before I’d let myself finish it. Having purchased the book in January and made it through a few chapters, I forced myself to stop and read only segments at a time--to savor the first reading. Somewhere around the end of March I apparently had my attention pulled back to Pages for the incredible middle segment of the novel, but again I stopped before I became addicted. Finally I came to the turning point in the novel and the foreshadowing helped me to decide to procrastinate it a little, and eventually I wound up finishing it here in the end of November.
There are, of course, other striking poetic novels and even other poetic novels with lesbian themes--one might easily point to Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s 1856 magnum opus, Aurora Leigh, as being the grandmother of such a genre (and perhaps a source of inspiration for Brownrigg). However, Pages for You is only separated from today’s reader by one decade, rather than sixteen and for this reader, it was a decade of reflection back to a time when she lived an experience all but identical to Flannery’s. When Browning was writing Aurora, a great many readers could understand the underlying tensions, but it had minor impact in the way so many of us today can finally relate to Brownrigg’s baby dyke bildungsroman. In point of fact, as I finished the novel this morning, on page 268, upon the words, “via campus mail” (referring to Flannery returning Anne’s apartment keys), I made the notation, remarking of Brownrigg, “Holy shit, this person has lived my life.”
"What did you do? I've--I've never felt anything like that before" (126), quoth Anne. To which I once wrote in my marginalia, "What a coincidence. I've never read anything this beautiful yet arousing before,” and indeed I have not. When Brownrigg decided toward the end of the piece (one might imagine an ending altered by her current mood) to break the fourth wall and indicate to her readers the difficulty in getting this novel published I empathized, and am very glad someone took a chance on it. It isn’t the sort of thing that fits well into today’s publishing model: far from being an Eragon or Hunger Games, Pages for You is a piece of lesbian memoir writing, wrapped in a fictional narrative, buried under a blanket of frozen language, separated by a gulf of poetic allusion...aimed at a young female readership. Emotionally or plot-wise, it’s also not quite what a parent would necessarily be looking to find on a daughter’s bookshelf…
…or maybe it is. The ending as written does not indicate to the reader whether or not Flannery continues to love women in the future, but it’s hard to miss the implication that falling in love with another woman can lead to heartbreak. Although the implication might be only as benign as to say that older women have baggage… Or simply that giving away one’s trust has consequences (so be prepared for a decade of PTSD and melancholy memoir writing). There is thankfully no implicit happily ever after as one might expect to find if Pages had been written by Malinda Lo. On page 217 when “Anne was forever telling Flannery, she had plenty of time,” I actually commented, “It’s ironic what horribly bad advice that is.” And so, I’m actually having difficulty imaging a case in which I would offer this piece as reader’s advisory to a teenager, but for a 20s or 30s-something reader like myself who’s already lived through just such an experience or two as Flannery encounters, it’s perfect.
If forced, in the end, to make that ugly overarching single sentence analysis, about Pages for you I might say:
Lyrical bliss.
Show Less
LibraryThing member tielwingsmama
I just finished reading Pages For You and I am surprised I had never heard of it before. I mean, I understand there is still that stigma associated with the LGBT community and for that reason books with LGBT couples are not commonly read in high schools. However, with time that will change and I
Show More
can definitely see thus becoming part of curriculum. Its storyline and character depth as well as the way it is written reminded me greatly of the classics I read in high school, like Catcher In the Rye and The Bell Jar. I believe Flannery and I would be great friends. get to know her by reading this great work of fiction by author Sylvia Brownrigg. Show Less
LibraryThing member tielwingsmama
I just finished reading Pages For You and I am surprised I had never heard of it before. I mean, I understand there is still that stigma associated with the LGBT community and for that reason books with LGBT couples are not commonly read in high schools. However, with time that will change and I
Show More
can definitely see thus becoming part of curriculum. Its storyline and character depth as well as the way it is written reminded me greatly of the classics I read in high school, like Catcher In the Rye and The Bell Jar. I believe Flannery and I would be great friends. get to know her by reading this great work of fiction by author Sylvia Brownrigg. Show Less
LibraryThing member tielwingsmama
I just finished reading Pages For You and I am surprised I had never heard of it before. I mean, I understand there is still that stigma associated with the LGBT community and for that reason books with LGBT couples are not commonly read in high schools. However, with time that will change and I
Show More
can definitely see thus becoming part of curriculum. Its storyline and character depth as well as the way it is written reminded me greatly of the classics I read in high school, like Catcher In the Rye and The Bell Jar. I believe Flannery and I would be great friends. get to know her by reading this great work of fiction by author Sylvia Brownrigg. Show Less
LibraryThing member AngelaLam
This book came highly recommended. It was one of those books that leaves you with an inexplicable feeling rather than a set of characters and plot. More like a soothing jazz ensemble, this book is a book for those who want to discover or relive the first taste of infatuation.
Awards
Lambda Literary Award (Nominee — 2001)
Stonewall Book Award (Honor Book — Literature — 2002)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
8.25 inches
ISBN
0312420048 / 9780312420048