The artist is amazing but she makes a living doing the covers of pulp fiction, and while she doesn't love it, it's steady work. There is very much an attitude of doing what you have to do to make a living. It's an intriguing look into that era and I enjoyed watching how these women supported themselves. The story ends up focusing on a female painter and the female male impersonater singer she falls in love with. All these women are somehow involved in arts and entertainment (singers, dancers, artists, writers). This book follows a group of women who are all part of the GLBTQ community in one way or another and are trying to make independent livings for themselves in San Fran in the 40's. It reminded me a lot of Malinda Lo's 'Last Night at the Telegraph Club' which was written after this book. This is more of a story of a group of women trying to survive San Francisco in the 1940's. There's very little magic in here and it's very subtle. Thoughts: I ended up enjoying this although I would put this more in the category of magical realism than outright historical fantasy. I bought a copy of this book from my Kindle. Little does Esther know what's really in store for her.Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. She is hoping to become a morally upright woman like the librarians. Esther feels shameful about her queer identity based on the approved reading material she has read over the years about queer identity. These female librarians are considered to be morally upright women. Before Beatriz had been hung, she had been betrothed to the older man that Esther found herself betrothed to after Beatriz's public hanging.Įsther becomes a stowaway on a wagon belonging to the female librarians that deliver approved reading material by the state throughout the region. Beatriz was hung for deviance and for possession of unapproved materials prior to the start of Upright Women Wanted. To make matters worse, Esther has witnessed the hanging of her secret lover, Beatriz. Esther is a young woman who runs away to escape being forced into an arranged marriage by her father to an older man she does not love. This novella focuses mainly on queer identity and what that means for the main character, Esther Augustus. Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey deals with queer identity and how fascism/fascist governments can control the flow of information within a society, etc.

It's described as a 'pulp western' novella by the author and is set in the USA in the near future after society has collapsed into a military state. I really enjoyed reading Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey.

Passing strange by ellen klages