Beyond Erotica: Sapphic Desire and the Politics of Irish Modernity in Maura Richards’ Interlude (1982)

This article reexamines Interlude (1982) by Maura Richards, moving beyond critiques of its sexually explicit content to explore its political significance, a previously overlooked aspect. I argue that the novel serves as a portrayal of 1980s Ireland, capturing the cultural, sexual, and political tensions of the era. The character of Martha, a representation of neoliberal bourgeois sexual politics, and the novel’s depiction of the closet as a site of consumerism and desire, underscore its engagement with neoliberal modernity and its failures. The novel’s topography of Dublin reflects the impact of boosterist neoliberal urbanism and homophobic violence, offering a counterhistory of the city. In contrast, the depiction of the West of Ireland, featuring Terry Castle’s ‘apparitional lesbian’, employs queer folk horror aesthetics to subvert traditionalist, romanticized visions of rural Ireland as a heterosexual, harmonious space. Furthermore, Sheila’s revelation that she is a nun and the lovers’ final conversation challenge neoliberal assumptions about religiosity and women, questioning secularization as inherently liberating and engaging with contemporary debates on religion, feminism, and social change. By analyzing these dimensions, this article reveals new subjectivities within the novel, challenging its reduction to ‘mere erotica’ and offering a politically charged reinterpretation.