42 Gscene LUCY KIRK
PAGE’S PAGES Book Reviews by Eric Page
struggle to prioritise. It’s queer self-care, allowing us to access the wise Unicorn best friend and guaranteed to bring a smile and give us a fierce one liner to get us through a difficult day. ) Ruby Rare (author), Sofie Birkin (illus) Sex Ed: A Guide for Adults (www.wordery. com, £12.99, published by Bloomsbury).
SARAH TIGHE-FORD
) Sarah Tighe-Ford Red Kate: A Tale of Lesbian Piracy (www. amazon.co.uk/Red-Katetale-lesbian-piracy-ebook/ dp/B08524WK9Y). This is a superb book from a local author – a deep swaggering dive into the world of lesbian piracy and living outside the law in the 18th-century Caribbean. Our protagonist, Red Kate, is captain of The Challenge. Her sometimes lover and rival, Captain Morgan, ploughs the same seas, but where Kate commands respect and loyalty in her crew, Morgan is brutal and the worst type of thief, taking anything and anyone she wants. Tighe-Ford brings the sea-faring dangerous world of buccaneering privateers and their outlaw vessels vividly to life – you can feel the sting of the waves and tang of the salt in the prose and with a strong focus on our protagonist as her heart and authority are challenged by her conflicted feelings for Morgan. The narrative thumps along, with revenge, sea battles, piracy and fights galore, viewed from a personal perspective and the impacts they deliver to people. It’s rich storytelling of life aboard an outlawed ship, wrapping up interactions of crew and their hopes and asking why people run to such places, and what they find when they stay.
A smashing festive selection of books for all budgets – from stocking fillers to bodice rippers, superheroes to sex manuals, coming-out to teenage love, a book is always the perfect present. - Eric ) Lucy Kirk (illus) Eat My Glitter Dust: Positive Words for Self-Care (www.mombooks.com, £7.99, published by LOM ART). This sweet and beautifully illustrated little hardback is packed with motivating quotes and life advice, covering topics including love, friendship, work, and the allimportant chill time many folks
RUBY RARE
Red Kate is a love story, a love of adventure, from women lovers exploring a wild world where defining yourself and being who you want and need to be can be yours for the taking, if you’re brave enough or lucky enough to fall in with a protective crew. TigheFord has introduced us to the utterly charming and rapier sharpwitted Captain Kate, swashbuckling her way across the Caribbean, parrying the blows of outrageous fortune, seeking a true direction, suffering setback and tragedy but ultimately learning to keep her crew safe, and fighting to become captain of her own heart. This is a heart-warming adventure book that takes in the lives of the strong independent women of the coarse 18th-century wild West Indies, who find love, compassion and adventure among themselves, on their own hard-won terms. Glorious!
Sex educator and body-positivity advocate Ruby Rare has condensed years of work into this wonderfully illustrated thick hardback, perfect for the bedside for a lot of reasons. Sex Ed is a practical and fun guide to sex. Rare brings her no-nonsense but caring approach to erotic information, dispelling insecurities with frank suggestions on how best to connect with our lovers and communicate effectively about
sexual needs, how the brain is the most important sex organ all the way down to the ins and outs of physical squishy sex and
all the various combinations of bodies we can generate. Although not specifically aimed at an LGBTQ+ audience, the book is focused more on us as sensual beings, rather than the labels people may put on our sexual tastes, so reaches across with shared experience. The content and voluptuous illustrations are explicit and the author takes us though how we can become healthier, happier lovers and enjoy our arousals, and what gets us there, completely. ) Sunil Gupta Lovers: Ten Years On (www.stanleybarker.co.uk, £35).
Sunil Gupta’s Lovers: Ten Years On is a series of black and white portraits of gay couples from London taken in the 1980s. Some in the Tate. After Gupta’s own 10-year relationship ended, he decided to document the
