Annie on My Mind

My first real exposure to lesbian literature was "The Well of Loneliness" by Radclyffe Hall. By that point, I had incredibly strong, almost-definite, not-quite-willing-to-accept feelings about my own homosexuality, and "The Well of Loneliness" captured exactly what I felt. After trawling through a lot of other books, most of them much more focused on the physical side to lesbian relationships, many poorly written, I discovered "Annie On My Mind", and I can't name a single book that has brought me to tears more than this. First of all, there's the content. The plot is pretty simple; Annie and Liza fall in love, get outed by a homophobic member of staff at Liza's school, and everything (almost!) falls apart. It's pretty much the classic love story, but where the two main protagonists are both girls. This, I think, is part of what makes the book so brilliant. It doesn't pretend to be anything but a love story between two girls. It isn't particularly focused on the evils of society or religious homophobia, but it does touch on everything relevant to young LGBT people. Despite it being a relatively dated book (they listen to cassettes!), which can be a little off-putting to a young, modern audience, it still tackles incredibly relevant issues, and makes you question how much has changed since the 1980's. The characters are fantastic. Liza is an incredibly likeable, realistic character with realistic concerns and emotions, and Annie is so sweet and adorable you can't help but think they're perfect for each other from the second they meet. Mrs. Poindexter and Ms. Baxter are excellent villains in that they alone pretty much portray all the antagonism young gay people fear facing upon coming out. Liza's family is the right combination of loving but sadly misunderstanding, with the exception of Chad, who deserves his own mention for being supportive of his sister despite her persecution. All the characters are believable, and they all play their roles in the story perfectly. Liza and Annie's romance is completely believable. They fall in love very fast, which is an accurate portrayal of a teenage relationship - things move fast. The tension between the two certainly exists, and all the 'near miss' moments when Liza could have said something or done something leave you reeling just as much as her. Although there is no explicit content at all, Garden tastefully cuts to the burning logs, which is very appropriate for the novel. Although no pretence is made about the relationship, both emotional and sexual, leaving the sex scenes to the imagination helps maintain that the relationship isn't pure lust. The girls' fear and urge to touch each other makes it very clear that they do desire each other, but that isn't what the book is about. If you're looking for mindless smut, look elsewhere. The issues Garden addresses are still relevant: coming out to your friends, family and school are some of the hardest things a gay teenager can go through, especially if they're forced to come out and are not received well. Annie's fear in coming out to her family because of their cultural background is another common concern, and Garden does it justice. Liza's parent's reactions are almost heart-breaking; her mother is convinced it's just experimentation, and Liza lies to her mother for the first time. Her father is willing to support her no matter what, but fears that she'll lead a pitiable life if she's gay. Although a lot of her problems would be solved by coming out properly, the fear she feels towards her parents reactions captures perfectly the fear to come out to unpredictable parents. Religious objection to homosexuality isn't ignored - Ms. Baxter plays the role of religious persecutor while ironically idolising Mrs. Poindexter to almost romantic amounts. Her words echo more strongly for some people, but are still hard to hear. I guarantee you will cry if you have ever been touched by these issues. Gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, read this book. It will help you understand so much about yourself and other people while not being preachy. No review can do it justice.

I enjoyed this book and it was quite sad in places how the too girls were perceived many years ago, its well written and keeps you enthralled although a little out of date now but its good to read and enjoyable, probably would help the younger generation but things have changed now thank goodness!

The beginning of Nancy Garden's book, Annie on My Mind, as it describes the first hesitant contact between the two girls, is a real enchantment. It is not easy to portray those initial feelings and the fluttering uncertainty that goes with them as the two girls get to know each other. The author's delicate touch enables her to depict sensitive events that a more heavy-handed approach could so easily render course or vulgar or trite. Her approach reminds me of something Marc-Alain Ouaknin (1) wrote about knowledge. The Rabbi said knowledge cannot be grasped, for doing so crushes the life out of it. Instead, knowledge can only be known by caressing it. Metaphorically then, Nancy Garden caresses her story till it communicates its essence. It is well known that it is the trials and tribulations of its characters that drive a story forward and hold the reader in its grip. Even when love is centre stage, as here, it is the threat to that love that gives the story its poignance. Would a story that dwelt on the unfolding of love and the deepening of a relationship be so boring that it required adversity to hold its reader? I kept wishing that Annie on My Mind wouldn't end the way the initial flash-forward seemed to indicate it might. No doubt, I was hankering after the lost paradise from that far off time before the awareness of self as separate from all the rest! Fortunately, although Nancy Garden tests her characters in circumstances that would break many, there's an ongoing thread of tenderness and consideration for them throughout the book, that leaves room for hope and optimism. (1) Lire aux Eclats, éloge de la caressse, Marc-Alain Ouaknin, Seuil, Paris, 1994, ISBN: 978-2-020-19553-9 Originally published on Secret paths: http://about-books.secret-paths.com/?p=223

The story starts with Liza as she's trying to write a letter to Annie after ignoring her for months. Struggling Liza looks out of the window and so begins her narration of how she meet Annie and how they fell in love. Certain moments in the story date the book to when it was written (1980s). I don't think the ear-piercing would be such a huge deal now but for the most part Annie on my Mind is timeless. I was very fond of Annie and was routing for both girls from start to finish. There is a wide array of characters. Liza's teachers, Ms Widmer and Ms Stevenson, are the adult parallel of what Liza and Annie wish to be and (while infuriating) their ending only made the story more real to me. I really really love this book, part of me knows it's because I believe books that tackle subjects that not everyone likes are important but the bigger part of me loves it because it is a wonderful, beautifully written story that makes you fall in love.

Grosse déception. Il est bien dans le sens qu'il dépeint des relations à peu près saines entre deux jeunes femmes, et présente l'homosexualité sous un jour assez honnête et positif. De par cet aspect, okay, c'est un bon livre lgbtqa+. Ceci dit, les personnages sont barbants et pas vraiment attachants, il y a énormément de drama et de nunucherie, et tout le côté "horrible environnement bigot et homophobe" est vraiment lourd à supporter. Donc pas mal si on n'a jamais rien lu sur le sujet, mais si on est déjà un vétéran de ce type de littérature, c'est vraiment dur à lire.

I'm going to start by saying this was a reread but I read it for the first time eight years ago so I couldn't remember a thing about the book. I knew I loved it but couldn't remember why. This book. This book killed me. It shattered me. I am not the same. Let me start by saying this story was published almost 40 years ago yet you can easily change the dates and it would still apply. This story is still relevant and these are things a lot of us queer people have gone through which is probably why it has become a queer classic. I must say I am not the biggest fan of the writing style. She added a lot of unnecessary details between commas and it confused me. I kept finding myself rereading the same paragraphs over and over again. This got annoying really quickly. The story was highly entertaining and it got me hooked. Lately, I've been having problems getting fully immersed in books. I get distracted every few minutes BUT with this story it was different. When I started this book a friend had invited me to go out with her and her friends but my phone didn't have enough charge so I decided to read while it charged. Long story short, an hour passed and I did not notice at all. Let's just say I told my friend "I'm sorry but I think I'll stay and read." That's just how much it hooked me. I'm not a fan of romance which is why it surprised me when this became one of my favorite books of all time. The thing is that since it was published so long ago it did not rely on the typical tropes that books nowadays do. Honestly, it was just so beautiful. I loved it. I love how this book deals with trying to come to terms with your sexuality and taking your time to accept a label. The story hit a little too close to home because I went through something similar. That's one of the reasons why I felt so touched by this book and why I loved it so much. Even if you didn't go through something similar queer people can relate to it and nonqueer people can learn from it. Overall, this book was amazing and 10/10 would recommend. I wish I could Make everyone read it because of how good it is. PLEASE read it. Those are the best dollars I've ever spent. Rating: 5/5

この本に出会えてよかった！ 心の底から感じました。 建築家をめざすLizaとすばらしい歌声の持ち主Annieの愛のお話です。 この世界に、二人なら完璧だって思える愛が一つでも多くなるのなら これほど素敵なことはない、と思います。 物語のなかの二人がとても微笑ましくて、心がふわーっとあったかくなりました。 一目で好きになる。周りがどう思うかなんて気にしない。世界の美しさにはじめて気づく。 恋っていいな！

Una auténtica maravilla de la literatura que no entiendo cómo no ha sido nunca publicada en español. Una historia supertierna y estilísticamente muy cuidada que consigue mantener tu atención hasta la última página sin recurrir a las tan manidas escenas dramáticas de acoso, rechazo y agresiones a que nos tienen acostumbrados tantos escritores.

I was so excited to buy this book and amazon gave me such an amazing discount. Thanks a lot Amazon for giving the discount and the book also came in such a good shape,no tears or anything.