Reading sexuality as much between the texts as through them, this work provides a critical stock-taking and intervention in the field of lesbian studies. Literary and cinematographic texts discussed include: "Basic Instinct"; "Bitter Moon"; "Friends and Relations" and "The Colour Purple".

What constitutes a narrative as "lesbian"? Hoogland provides original readings of such films as Basic Instinct and Bitter Moon, and novels such as The Bell Jar and Friends and Relations in order to trace the way lesbian identities are negotiated in Western culture.