Hers was the sky

How and where did you access it?

I first read this book and others in translation back home at around the age of 12/13. It was part of a feminist/lesbian series called Ariadne Crime fiction. I guess I was first attracted by the yellow and black covers, typical for crime fiction by the better known Diogenes publishers. This was before I had developed an idea of my own sexuality and I was greatly attracted by not only female but also lesbian protagonists.

How did it make you feel?

I was reading voraciously at the time, almost indiscriminately and my library staff didn't seem to mind what I borrowed, although these books were firmly in the adult section. I can't say I think I understood all the plots and most likely not all the dialogues and allusions typical to queer fiction (there being also a question of the translatability of slang). But as I was reading mostly adult fiction anyway this didn't bother me at the time. It gave me a sense of being able to identify with a female heroine (irrespective of sexuality) and with a female author.

Did you share it?

I didn't share it at the time, mostly because most of my friends didn't read as much as I did. There was certainly also a sense of having found something of my own that I didn't want to share with anyone, particularly as I was also probably too young to read them. Although most of them are, in retrospect quite harmless (disregarding the occasional violence), compared with other, male-centred crime fiction. I have recently re-read this book and others and am now sharing them with friends.

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