Lovesick Blossoms

(Paperback)

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Description

In a small Kentucky college town in 1953, two married women desperately fall in love with each other, until a moment of indiscretion threatens to destroy both their lives.

In her new adult novel, award-winning author Julia Watts creates a compelling, emotional queer tale of power and passion. Colleagues and neighbors of Samuel and Boots are more than willing to accept their married status, even though Samuel dresses like a boy and the pairs relationship is one of convenience that will never be consummated. But when Samuel meets a new professors wife, Frances, at a faculty party, she soon falls in love, and learns the difficulty of discretion in a small townwith tragic consequences. LAMBDA award-winning author Julia Watts (Needlework, Quiver) returns to adult fiction in this consummate historical LGBTQ+ work.

Reviews

What an astounding book. It had me laughing, then crying, then cussing, then flinching with anxiety. A true testament to how difficult and dangerous 1950s lesbian and gay life used to be, Lovesick Blossoms is one of the most emotionally affecting novels Ive ever read. Jeff Mann, author, Country and Loving Mountains, Loving Men

Julia Watts has done it again. The characters in Lovesick Blossoms are unforgettable, and their dilemmas are a poignant reminder of the limited choices--and the dangers--for LGBTQ folks of previous generations. An important addition to Watts's body of work chronicling LGBTQ lives in Appalachia. Dr. Allison E. Carey, author of Doubly Erased: LGBTQ Literature in Appalachia

PAST PRAISE FOR JULIA WATTS

For Needlework

Winner, Bronze Medal, Foreword 2022 Indies Award for Young Adult Fiction

2022 Great Reads from Great Places Childrens Book Selection for Tennessee

Wattss engaging book addresses timely topics like addiction, homophobia, and racism, but her gentle, heartwarming prose makes this book a comfort read. Kodys sweetly honest narration makes it impossible not to cheer for him. . . . Highly recommended. School Library Journal

Watts (Quiver) depicts queer existence in a conservative white Appalachian town with realism and, effectively, hope. Even as Kody experiences harm caused by those closest to him, he never doubts his value, a characterization that proves validating in this poignant exploration of the generational trauma caused by poverty, addiction, and racism, and of the power of being loved for oneself. Publishers Weekly

Watts, who lives in Appalachia, captures the setting, the characters, and their voices with conviction. . . . A very readable novel. Booklist

For Quiver

Quiver is an amazing, heartfelt book with a powerful lesson to share. Nearly all young adults feel judged or excluded at some point in their lives; this story will help anyone, no matter their situation, see that acceptance is possible. Foreword Reviews, starred review; Foreword Indies Finalist

A wonderful story of friendshipFor anyone who has felt different, Wattss novel will be ultimately relatable. VOYA Magazine, Perfect 10 Rating

Discussions of values and morality are straightforward and thoughtful, offering some provocative opportunities for readers to articulate their own possibly unquestioned views in discussion. The atmosphere is vivid: Watts knowledge of country Tennessee shines through in the details. The Bulletin of the Center for Childrens Books

This just may be the perfect book for our times, when acknowledgement of common ground and empathy are sorely needed. New York Journal of Books

Author Bio

Julia Watts is the author of fourteen novels and several short story collections in the genres of young adult fiction and lesbian fiction/erotica. Her books, set in Appalachia, often depict the lives of LGBTQ people in the Bible Belt. Her most recent YA novel, Needlework, was selected as Tennessees youth selection for the Great Reads from Great Places list for the 2022 National Book Festival of the Library of Congress, and won Honorable Mention for Best YA novel of the year in the Foreword INDIES awards. Her novel Finding H.F. (Alyson Press) won the Lambda Literary Award in the children/young adult category. Her YA novel, Quiver, set in rural Tennessee, received a rare Perfect 10 Rating from VOYA Magazine, and was selected for the American Library Associations Rainbow List. Her novel Secret City(Bella Books) was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award and a winner of a Golden Crown Literary Award. In 2020 Watts was given the Tennessee Library Associations Intellectual Freedom Award. She lives in Knoxville, TN.