Every Woman’s Dream by Lesléa Newman

Newman has made a somewhat controversial name for herself with gay and lesbian books for children that have recently been at the center of a school-censorship maelstrom, but before then she was, and she still is, a lesbian-feminist writer of considerable repute. Her work has frequently been anthologized, and she has edited anthologies herself and paid her dues via books of poetry, short stories, and nonfiction as well as three novels. This collection gathers pieces ranging from single-page sketches to well-crafted short stories. ‘What I Will Not Tell You’ is a brief monologue that tells all. A pair of socks narrates the story of ‘Around the World in Eighty Dykes.’ A woman is seduced by a painting in ‘Still Life with Woman and Apple,’ and a lesbian writer with seven rejected novels considers a Faustian deal in ‘Plotting with the Devil.’ All 28 pieces are fresh, most are fun, and a few, such as ‘Let Me Explain,’ a mother’s letter to her dead son’s lover, are mind- and gut-wrenchers. Marie Kuda