Review: Paulina Palmer. Lesbian Gothic: Transgressive Fictions.

In lieu of an abstract, here is the first paragraph of the review: Covering a wide range of examples from the last three decades, Paulina Palmer's book, Lesbian Gothic: Transgressive Fictions, provides a thorough and multi-faceted analysis of the development of lesbian Gothic fiction with regard to the changing representations of lesbian/feminist issues. As a starting point of her analysis she draws a connection between the two terms under discussion ("lesbian" and "gothic") and argues that both are characterized by the aspects of marginality and versatility. In fact, as she states, it is the marginality and versatility of the genre itself that render it an apt vehicle for feminist/lesbian/queer concerns, which likewise centre on marginal and volatile subjects. Focussing on the transgressive potential of the genre, Palmer's study takes a primarily socio-cultural approach and analyzes how socio-political changes and developments in gender/queer culture and theory have intensified the transgressive dimension of lesbian Gothic writing.