Journalist and co-host of Slate’s Working podcast, June Thomas has written a lesbian cultural history like no other. It focuses on six spaces that have played outsized roles in lesbian culture including bars, bookstores, softball diamonds, land, feminist sex-toy stores and vacation destinations. Through witty quips and well-researched stories, Thomas walks readers through each of these, how they became lesbian spaces and what they’ve meant to the community. This hopeful and captivating volume will be a walk down memory lane for some and, for others, an introduction to how lesbians (and all queer people) have had to create safe and welcoming spaces to meet, ideate, unite and celebrate.

Part memoir, part history, this book looks at different spaces (bars, softball fields, communes, bookstores, sex shops, and vacation spots) about how queer women shaped them and how generations of women were shaped by them. I especially appreciated how Thomas reconciles the very real history of trans-exclusionism in these spaces and reflects on her own evolution of thought. I think I would have wanted more information on how the specific regional histories of these areas (PNW vs NYC, USA vs UK) shaped the lived experiences of the queer women who lived in these areas. A lovely contribution to the growing, easily accessible scholarship on the 20th century queer woman's experience.

This is an excellent book. I really enjoyed reading it and learning more about a piece of oft-overlooked queer history.

As the author acknowledges, queer men's history is often better known than queer women's history, for a variety of reasons. This book seeks to counteract that, while also showing great respect for and making distinct connections to well-known instances of queer men's history as a means of establishing this book's place within male-dominated queer history. As any women's historian or gender studies scholar knows, this is by no means an easy task! But June Thomas does a fantastic job of it.

I also appreciated Thomas's personal insights and her stories of her own experiences as a queer woman of her generation, and the sense of humor she added to the narrative she wove.

My only complaint about this book is that the chapters are SO LONG! There are only six--one for each "place" Thomas discusses. I think the book would have been better if she'd made this into six sections with multiple chapters in each, organized either chronologically or thematically. As it is, the book is still great, but the length of the chapters definitely makes the book seem like it's taking a very long time to read.

I did enjoy this book overall. It was easy to read and gave some good history that is not often discussed or known. The first few chapters of the book were not great but it did pick up as it went. In the first two chapters there were many repeated ideas/thoughts/statements said multiple times each chapter. These were not just the same underlying theme repeated but almost word for word repeats many times a chapter, It felt a little like the author was trying to fill the word count. They also focused more on deep details on specific places but less on movements as a whole. I didn't feel like I got as much about the topic overall as I did one specific place. I do wish the first two chapters tied more to current day. Felt like reading an outdated book. The Bar chapter could have done a lot with how many new ones are popping back up. The Book store chapter had a little on the current time but just a few paragraphs towards the end. It would be nice to see the full picture and impacts from the 1990s beyond the early 2000s

The Softball chapter was where the book picked up for me. I felt a shift in the writing that was giving more details on the topic as a whole and better using the personal stories to tell the big picture. The chapters following were also more like this and were more captivating. I do feel like more current things could have still been added. These chapters did a much better job of showing start to current but there was a lot that could have been added.

Throughout the book some details, people, places, movements were written in a "if you know you know" way without explanation to help the reader understand. For those trying to learn more about this not well known history it can be hard to understand when somethings feel secret coded for those who have been in the community a long time. Many chapters were also rooted in activism/politics/feminism that felt like significant parts of the story but were just repeatedly mentioned vaguely.

I do think this book would be great for both people in the community and those newer to the community who are trying to learn more. I appreciated the additional of details for trans and nonbinary folks throughout.

I really liked this I love reading books about queer history and how it was shaped. I think this book shows the history while also showing the stories of those who have been apart of it

I was really engaged by A Place of Our Own - despite feeling less personal than some texts covering similar histories, it was very interesting, and quite emotionally resonant at the end. I appreciated the small snippets of UK history, alongside a focus on US-based places - however, as is often the case, I would have liked an even wider view geographically. By choosing to focus on specific forms of space, and analysing each mostly chronologically, Thomas creates a really coherent narrative. The interviews with proprietors and attendees made the text feel alive and human, rather than clinical.

A wealthy history of the Lesbian queer history story. I loved the pictures as well as the detailed encounters of finding where queers could belong. This was a wonderful non-fiction piece with bones and has been building since the beginning.

A Place of Our Own is a great introduction to six different spaces central to the cultural history of queer women.

June Thomas is writing from a place of personal experience which I think makes this book really special. To have lived and participated in the 70s-90s queer/lesbian scene and been at the emergence of various movements is amazing. It makes me reflect on all the history of progress and what has happened and realize the history we continue to live today as we work towards further acceptance and community building.

Thomas mentioned the importance of third places and how being queer/lesbian is not something typically taught to us like other cultural aspects of ourselves like religion or ethnicity, so queer people are left to figure out the community on their own and what is culturally happening. Through the six spaces she talks about - bars, bookstores, softball to name a few- it is evident the scope of the lesbian community and how it is necessary to have a variety of spaces for all interests.

The chapter on feminist bookstores was interesting and the reiteration that when supporting chain bookstores the narratives and censorship of what is carried impacts the ability to really learn, engage and get a message out there. Supporting independent bookstores typically means supporting more members of the community writing books, zines etc and there is less restriction of ideas.

There were some photos and visuals throughout the book, I think a few more archival photos to go with the text would've been cool to see.

This was a great read, if you are looking for a place to start learning about queer history with a focus on spaces for queer women, feminism and US locations start with this book!

Thank you NetGalley for the e-ARC.

An important read for any queer person or historian. This was well researched and I enjoyed the writing style.

A place of our own, which may be a reference to Virginia’s room of one’s own is about the places that lesbians have been able to call their own, especially during the 70s to the 90’s, a time when the author was herself a young woman trying to find her place in the lesbian sphere.
The places are bars, feminists bookstores and sex stores, softball, “lesbian land”, and vacation destinations.
Some very good points, others not so good. First I understand that since it’s a US editor, I should have expected it, but the fact that this is mostly about American lesbian culture was a little disappointing especially since the author is British. The title made it seem like it was more of a universal cultural thing I guess. I also found the chapter about lesbian land to be quite disappointing, the author is old enough to know about how separatism came to exist (we can agree or not agree with it) and yet the way she talks about it really lacks some of the context.
Now on to what I really liked. I really liked that there is talk about the reality of capitalism and how it can impact lesbian and feminist businesses (which are usually women owned), I feel like we also don’t talk enough about the fact that today, we have less and less “third spaces” that are free (and that’s true for everyone, not just lesbians). I really can’t blame business owners for wanting to make a profit - cause we all need money to live - but it does mean that many of those places are not accessible to people who may need it the most. While I did appreciate the mention of capitalism, it makes me realise that none of the spaces mentioned in the book are “free”. So that’s probably what I’m gonna take away from my reading, where do young and poor lesbians or bisexuals women find community now? Probably the internet but it’s not exactly the same as meeting people in real life.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.