Beginnings: Lesbians Talk About the First Time They Met Their Long-Term Partner

Lesbians describes the first time they met their long-term partner, detailing initial adventures that range from wild to mundane, from hilarious comedy-of-errors encounters to near-spiritual minglings of the soul. The women who tell their stories in this collection point up several important life lessons: that first impressions are not necessarily accurate, that romance can often come quite unexpectedly, and that a beginning frequently marks the end of a long, long search .

Love at first sight? Cynics beware! In these 50 short narratives of new love, lesbians describe their first meetings with the women who would later become their life partners. For almost all of the writers included here, the ground shook, the clouds flew apart, and the sun scattered diamonds on the path (or maybe lesbians just love a good story).

In each of these tales, there is a moment when sparks flew. "I was almost blinded by her electric light," writes Delane Daugherty, "and astounded at how everything else dimmed a little." Jules Torti agrees: "She was the one; I knew this instantly." For Shilpa Mehta, "it was as if, for a moment, time had stopped just for us." And then there's Merrill, who made such a bad first impression on Mary, the beautiful new dyke in town, that when she asked her to call sometime, Mary looked away and said: "We'll see. But I don't think so." Some of the most touching stories in Beginnings describe situations in which women were forced to break up families and long-term relationships to be with each other, compelled to seek happiness even at the risk of causing pain. A warm read for a chilly night; balm for incurable romantics. --Regina Marler