After Sappho is a sapphic historical fiction, which involves many women and is told in cascading vignettes.
The book begins with three women: Lina Poletti (Italian poet), Rina Faccio (Italian writer), and Anna Kuliscioff, who was born in Ukraine, but studied medicine in Italy and became one of the first doctors in Italy, and strong voice for women across Europe.

It’s a story of women who fought for human treatment of women. They didn’t want lives that led to asylums. They also demanded freedom to grow intellectually, to be able to read and discuss it with other women. They argued that voting for men only is not democracy, but tyranny.

The story involves many fascinating women and this is what I appreciate, shedding light on them. As the story is told in brief pieces and keeps introducing new women, it hardly feels as a novel. After the introduction of the three women, they in a way connect, but I thought there would be more to their stories. Instead, the book progresses with introduction of more women.

The short vignettes give it a feel of brisk introduction of different women, but I wanted to connect with those women on a deeper level. That was the missing part for me.

Overall, it is a fascinating story of women who were brought to light.

Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review

Bits and pieces of stories woven together to create a wide-spanning tale of evolution, creativity, and identity. The way it is written is fragmented and often feels unfinished but life after Sappho is unfinished in itself so it makes sense in a way.

Great book if you love vibey reads, occasionally lacking but overall great

4/5

I was drawn in instantly to this book because of its unique format. The chapters being made up of small vignettes that make this book really easy to casually read. However, it can be a bit difficult to read that format over long stretches of time. It’s perfect for a more casual read though.
The premise itself is fantastic and the book is full of wonderful stories of bi and lesbian women that have inspired me and made me reflect on our own world.
Overall I would say that if you are passionate about history and the women in it, then it is a good book for you as long as you are able to appreciate the format

This book was very strange and felt like reading a Wikipedia article. I’m not sure how anyone could possibly finish it. It’s the driest thing I’ve read in a long time. Just constant snippets of different women’s lives. I feel like you could take characters from this and turn it into a good novel, but this was just strange.

Usually I love Greek stories. This was difficult to read and I had a hard time finishing. I wasn’t fond of the writing style, or the jumps in narrative

It has been a while since I have read a book that I knew I would have to reread again soon before I even finished it.

THE CONCEPT
The author herself explains that even though this novel is indeed a work of fiction, it could be categorized as something else entirely. It is genre-bending, narrated by a collective voice: We instead of I. Us instead of Me. This voice transcends time, existing in the past, present, and future. The text is written in fragments—we somewhat move along a chronological timeline, but there is a lack of restriction, a fluidity that allows the narrative to move forward and back when necessary.

THE PLOT
One could argue that there is no plot in the more traditional sense. We essentially follow several women (that actually existed) from the early 20th century. These women were writers, painters, actresses, dancers, architects. They were pioneers in their craft, as well as contributors to the feminist movement in their respective countries. Most of these women were Italian or resided in Italy, so Italian politics play a significant role. As we meet each woman, we learn about what they aspired to be and what they eventually accomplished. Their lives intersect, and we watch their relationships unfold. And perhaps at the heart of it all is Sappho—Sappho is why they mesh into one, despite them living separate lives. The collective We begins with Sappho and lives on.

WHY I LOVED IT
1. I am a sucker for anything that feels new. I haven't read anything like this before, and I can't help but admire Schwartz's innovative structure and narrative. It is perhaps a way to honor Virginia Woolf (who we follow in this novel) and her contribution to literature. Woolf is thought of as a pioneer—she redefined what a novel could be by using stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Schwartz highlights this legacy in her book, calling into question what exactly is a portrait? Must it be restricted to paintings? The way Woolf wrote, is that not a portrait? One of the mind, of the self? This is also what Schwartz accomplished; each story told within each vignette was a portrait. Schwartz's imagery mimics paint on a brush. Her lines are decadent, ripe and juicy.

2. Sappho, having been a poet in Ancient Greece, creates a link to her time period. I'd have to remind myself that the women we follow were living in the early 1900's, because I would unconsciously picture them in a Grecian chiton, arms exposed, sandals on their feet. The allusions to Greek myth and Grecian landscape fooled me into thinking I was reading some newly discovered ancient text. This impressed me—Schwartz definitely has an affinity for atmosphere.

3. You could dissect this novel and find many themes, most of them are obvious. But there were some underlying themes that presented more complex ideas.
a) Islands are a recurring element, but what is an island? Land surrounded by water? What can an island mean to someone? An escape, a prison?
b) Language and grammar are often used in metaphor, or to explore the things we have trouble putting into words.
c) Schwartz also cleverly used repetition to bring something full circle after being subtly dispersed throughout the novel.

4. Lastly, I love that I learned about these creatives and how they contributed to their societies, as well as their lasting impact. I found myself googling each woman as she was introduced and was shocked to find out that most of what Schwartz wrote actually happened. The author herself suggests that she wrote speculative biographies, and I find that to be the most accurate description. I got to learn about a niche group from history, while reaping the benefits of gorgeous, lyrical writing? I mean, those are my two favorite things! I wish I could consume history like this more often.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
1. Despite me gushing about this book, and it genuinely impressing me, I also found it rather convoluted at times. I read it over the course of a few days and due to the nature of how the book is written/structured, the timelines and characters were difficult to keep track of. I really think most would benefit from reading this in a day, two days max. After finishing, I tried to go back and see if I could get the storylines and relationships straight and that helped, so maybe this is a book that warrants annotations or sticky tabs as you go along. Having read this as a digital ARC, annotating didn't come easy.

2. My other issue is that I wanted more. I can appreciate the poetic effect created by the vignettes, but I would have felt more satisfied with more detail. Once it was over, I felt a lack in closure.

I cannot wait until this book comes out (01/24/23), because I will be buying a copy so I can go crazy with a pen/highlighter and underline my favorite quotes. This being an e-ARC, I could not share my favorite lines in this review.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company, Liveright for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When I started After Sappho I got that same kind of breathless feeling that I had when I read Naomi Alderman’s The Power or Emma Cline’s The Girls — that deep-gut reaction to having feminist truths named that had formerly only been experienced — and I luxuriated in author Selby Wynn Schwartz’s lyrical prose; was intrigued by her episodic biographies of women who dared to break the patriarchal molds they had been born into. But as the book proceeded, it began to feel less like a novel and more like a textbook or a series of Wikipedia entries: it read as all surface, no depth; all sizzle, no steak. It became a bit of a slog — despite frequent yummy prose — and while I admire the effort, and appreciate what I learned, this, unfortunately, was not quite to my taste.

I have a BA in English, and I sometimes find myself missing the classrooms of my undergraduate years, of reading a piece of literature that is actually made to be analyzed and appreciated in that environment. After Sappho brought me back there, and though I know that makes it not everyone's cup of tea, I really enjoyed the academic feel of the book.

After Sappho weaves together the lives of numerous sapphics from the late 1800s to the late 1920s. Each story is broken up into short snippets from the character's life at a certain point in time before it quickly switches into another character's story. I really liked the characters and the way some of their stories were connected, but I found myself getting a little lost at times as the novel wore on, especially with several characters changing their names or becoming new people. I kept forgetting who was who and what their story was (though I guess it could be argued that their story is all the same, as they are all Sappho?). But given the nature of the writing style and prose choices here, I just couldn't get invested in the story completely. And as a lesbian, I love lesbians, I love reading about lesbians and our history, so I was really excited to read this book, but ultimately it just fell a bit flat and there wasn't enough substance of their stories to keep me engaged and caring about them.

Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for the eARC!