A Compass Error by Sybille Bedford

Set in the late 1920s, Sybille Bedford’s semi-autobiographical novel explicitly explores late-adolescent female sexuality and same-sex attraction. The 17-year-old protagonist, Flavia, becomes entangled in the bohemian lifestyle of a French coastal village, experiencing a sensual awakening and romantic affairs with older women—specifically a painter's wife, Thérèse, and an alluring, manipulative woman named Andrée.

Seventeen-year-old Flavia spends a solitary, idyllic summer in the South of France cramming for her Oxford entrance exams. Her disciplined life is upended when a chance encounter draws her into a sophisticated, bohemian circle of older intellectuals. Swept into a world of intense drinking, intellectual sparring, and passionate lesbian love affairs, Flavia’s youthful arrogance blinds her to a web of betrayal that will permanently alter the trajectory of her life and family.