A young woman moves from the countryside to the city.
Inexplicably, inexorably and immediately, she falls in love with another woman for the first time in her life.
Finn is nineteen years older than her, wears men's clothes, has a cocky smirk of a smile - and a long-term girlfriend.
With precision, wit and tenderness, Women charts the frenzy and the fall out of love.
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[What I know for certain about this time: My pupils were expanding](Fourth Estate, 8 March 2018, ebook, 113 pages, ARC from publisher via NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed)
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Women is an amazing little novella, a real gut-busting tear-jerker.
I devoured the book in one sitting and felt disappointed it's not several hundred pages longer. I could have stayed with the narrator and Finn forever and never grown bored.
As a lesbian, Women is very easy to relate to. The narrator's intense love for Finn and their screwed-up dynamics of their affair echo my own experiences. They probably echo a lot of experiences. At times, I felt like the author was telling my story and I got the chills.
Women is not just about someone's first lesbian experience, it's about the intensity of first love, something that is universal. For many people, anyway. I remember the first time I truly loved someone, a woman, thirteen years ago. I haven't seen or spoken to her since but she is always in my heart. First love is particular kind of love, a haunting love.
Women is amazing. I loved every word.
