Sensible Footwear: A Girl's Guide: A graphic guide to lesbian and queer history 1950-2020

(Paperback)

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Peopled by a cast of gay icons such as Dusty Springfield, Billie Jean King, Dirk Bogarde and Alan Turing, and featuring key moments such as Stonewall, Gay Pride and Section 28,Sensible Footwear: A Girl's Guide, is the first graphic history documenting lesbian life from 1950 to the present.

Peopled by a cast of gay icons such as Dusty Springfield, Billie Jean King, Dirk Bogarde and Alan Turing, and featuring key moments such as Stonewall, Gay Pride and Section 28, Sensible Footwear: A Girl's Guide, is the first graphic history documenting lesbian life from 1950 to the present. It is a stunning, personal, graphic memoir and a milestone itself in LGBTQI+ history.

In 1950, when Kate was born, male homosexuality carried a custodial sentence. But female homosexuality had never been an offence in the UK, effectively rendering lesbians even more invisible than they already were-often to themselves. Growing up in Yorkshire, the young Kate had to find role models wherever she could, in real life, books, film and TV.

Sensible Footwear is a fascinating history of how post-war Britain transformed from a country hostile towards 'queer' lives to the LGBQTI+ universe of today, recording the political gains and challenges against a backdrop of personal experience: realising her own sexuality, coming out to her parents, embracing lesbian and gay culture, losing friends to AIDS. Kate's ex-navy dad said to her: `You shouldn't have told her, love... you should have just told me.' But it turned out her mother might have known a bit more about life, too.

'Engagingly documents decades of changes in the LGBTQ+ life. The often hidden history of lesbians in Britain...comes alive through the vivid re-creations...' Paul Gravett, The Bookseller

Reviews

Peppered with humour, its an accessible, gripping account which also celebrates the best of lesbian and gay culture. Times Literary Supplement, Ella Braidwood; Loved this graphic memoir by Kate Charlesworth. It's so entertaining and original. Trust me, it's a treat. Bernardine Evaristo, Instagram; Loved the weaving together of personal history and broader LGBTQ+ history. The ending made me laugh and cheer. Gemma, Goodreads; Edinburgh-based Kate Charlesworths brilliant graphic novel is a memoir and study of LGBT history from 1950 to present day. Its packed full of info and so relevant this month. Heather Lindsay, Twitter; Unbelievable. Gorgeous pages full of 60+ years of personal and political stories woven together as a narrative. Never read anything like it and want to pick it up and start again. Jessica, Goodreads; The first of its kind to concentrate on lesbian history, its absolutely jam-packed with key moments in LGBTQI+ history important political developments, gay icons, deeply relatable personal experiences and poignant observations of the hostility suffered by the queer community in post-war Britain and *still* today. Shelflife Cardiff; Favourite Queer Books Read in 2020 Elainas Bookshelf; Extremely hard to put down. Jodie Reads Books, Bookstagrammer; 9/10. Glorious! This is the most wonderful, endearing, heart-breaking book. One to read and reread. Quick Book Reviews, Bookstagrammer; Kate says this of Roger Baker, journalist and gay rights activist, on page 191: Roger was always inclusive in his writing and journalism. Genders, sexualities, ethnicities, abilities. He got LGBTQIA+ in a pre-hashtag age And Kate Charlesworth gets it in this one. The Book Hive Bookshop, Norwich; I read this graphic novel for Pride Month and I am obsessed with the art style. Really informative - it is packed full of factual and anecdotal history of the Gay Rights movement in the UK but also the life experiences of Kate as a lesbian woman... Id definitely recommend picking it up. Star Planet Books, Bookstagrammer; While its an intensely personal and intimate work, Sensible Footwear also chronicles LGBTQ+ history extensively and wants to spark curiosity about its forgotten figures. Youll want to take notes! Its clear a mountain of work went into this book and it deserves its place on your bookshelf! Last Lovers Arc, Bookstagrammer; Why are we not taught more of this in schools The book is full to bursting with LGBT history and features lots of LGBT icons. Sometimes there was so much information on the pages that it felt less like a graphic novel and more like a scrapbook, which I really liked. Ida Know Thyself, Bookstagrammer, 4/4-star review; Moving, informative, funny and beautifully drawnas vivid a history of queer life as the general reader could hope to find. What happenedis only meaningful when we have the wherewithal to imagine what it was like. This beautiful and generous memoir gives us that. Oliver Arditi; A must in LGBT readings. Sallychinaski, Bookstagrammer; Hugely visually inventive, sometimes tragic, often hilarious. Finishing it, I felt bereft. Swithun Cooper, British Council; A recent favourite [comic] of mine is Sensible Footwear by Kate Charlesworth, which grants a vivid insight into life as a lesbian during the shifting socio-political climate in the UK since the 50s a story both vital, angry and uplifting and somehow largely unreported. Hannah Berry, UK Comic Laureate, I News; I loved this book. Much of the joy is the combination of learning new things and recognising faces. Intersectional. Not TERFy. And gives the best account of the trajectory over the 80s and 90s of that space between Clause 28 and repeal that Ive seen. Recommended. Farah Mendlesohn; Sensible Footwear is the realistic LGBTQ+ material weve all been waiting for... Some of the most intriguing non-fiction narrative Ive had the pleasure of reading in a long while. The attention to detail is phenomenal. I cant recommend this multi-media masterpiece enough. Sophie Clay for The Comic Lounge 9/10-star review; As well as being a memoir of her life, the book is also a document of what has happened in queer history. One little tidbit I got from the book was that Calamity Jane was an undercover queer classic! The book makes you think of things much more politically. I, as a member of the queer community, had forgotten just how recent all the changes are, good and bad, and it was really good to be reminded of that in a non-preachy way. Simon Savidge: Top Five Nonfiction Books for BBC Radio 5 Live; This book has been a highlight of my year. Sensible Footwear is a real achievement and something Ill definitely keep going back to. Turnaround 2019 Graphic Novels Staff Picks; What a superbly structured, brilliant but biting history and vital entertainment this is! It is laugh! Its a riot! It is a genuine milestone. No wonder Posy Simmonds is in love with it. Refreshingly structured, full of vital historical LGBT+ struggle and FUNNY to boot! I've TRIPLED our order. Stephen Holland, Page 45; Sensible Footwear encourages the reader by example to think of possibilities for behaviour and community outside of the bounds of what already exists. The parity of rights across genders and sexualities is necessary to protect people from discrimination based on their preferences but... offering the right for anyone to get married, for example, does not pare down the dominance of the institution of heterosexuality. Instead, it invites people outside the institution to subscribe to its ideal as it continues to reign supreme. Steff Humm, The Artful; It is a triumph to cram so much of our complex history in picture form and will I think make it a very important book that will inspire people to find out more. The history pages are fascinating and I learnt new stories and was reminded of old stories and issues I had forgotten. Sue Sanders, LGBT History Month UK; [An] incomparably brilliant graphic queer history. Uli Lenart; A wonderfully colourful and candid book, full of Charlesworth's crisp, clean, simple lines and her nuanced vision of human complexity. Teddy Jamieson, Herald Scotland; Undoubtedly one of the most crucial graphic memoirs of the year. Andy Oliver, Broken Frontier; Not since Alison Bechdel's Fun Home has there been such an important graphic memoir. A striking achievement in comic form, Sensible Footwear should be on everyones bookshelves. Erica Gillingham, DIVA Magazine; Kates beautiful graphic novel Sensible Footwear: A Girls Guide is set to be the go-to text for LGBTQ+ history. Its also a stunning lesbian graphic memoir and social history of post-war Britain. For me, visually, it kept evoking Sally Heathcote Suffragette and Alice in Sunderland. Vibrant, funny, sometimes angry, its essential reading that belongs on every bookshelf! Mary Talbot; Sensible Footwear is a glorious political and personal history that gives Pride a run for its money; but, like Pride, it wears its heart at the centre, making the invisible visible, and celebrating lesbian lives from the domestic to the diva. Turnaround Blog: 2019 Queer Lit Preview; You will LOVE Sensible Footwear by Kate Charlesworth, it's jaw-droppingly detailed and insightful. Ninja Book Box; Newsworthy, covetable and will become a classic. Adele Patrick, Glasgow Womens Library; The often-hidden history of lesbians in Britain from 1950 to the present comes alive through the vivid re-creations of acclaimed cartoonist Kate Charlesworth. Sensible Footwear engagingly documents decades of changes in the LGBTQ+ life. Paul Gravett for The Bookseller; Sensible Footwear is a glorious political and personal history that gives Pride a run for its money; but, like Pride, it wears its heart at the centre, making the invisible visible, and celebrating lesbian lives from the domestic to the diva. Turnaround Blog; Kates insightful work has illuminated and documented LGBTQ life an important work. David Isaac, chair of Equality and Human Rights Commission; A Girls Guide to Sensible Footwear will be a crucial cornerstone in building our future by making sure we remember our past. And Kates style feisty, questioning, open, witty and sometimes angry is the perfect vehicle to communicate that lived history of feminism, activism and liberation history in a uniquely accessible way. I cant wait to get my hands on it. Val McDermid; Sensible Footwear: A Girls Guide will be a crucial cornerstone in building our future by making sure we remember our past. And Kates stylefeisty, questioning, open, witty and sometimes angryis the perfect vehicle to communicate that lived history of feminism, activism and liberation history in a uniquely accessible way. I cant wait to get my hands on it. Val McDermid

Author Bio

Kate Charlesworth is a cartoonist and illustrator living and working in Edinburgh, originally from Barnsley, South Yorkshire. After art college in Manchester, she began work as a freelance illustrator in London where, along with David Shenton as cartoonists accidentally documented L&G she was part of (as it was then known) the golden age of Gay publishing. Her work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, books, indie comics, exhibitions and electronic media and she has drawn storyboards for Hot Animation and Aardman Animations. In 2014 she collaborated with Mary and Bryan Talbot 2012 Costa biography winners for their graphic novel Dotter of Her Fathers Eyes to illustrate Sally Heathcote: Suffragette, published by Jonathan Cape. Her graphic memoir, Sensible Footwear: A Girls Guide is out now.