(Serpent's Tail 1999)
Leave your comments in the forum >>
Further Reading >>
Synopsis
Stand-up comic Maggie has fallen for "the girl with the Kelly McGillis body", a mysterious woman who can't commit herself. Meanwhile South London detective Saz is hot on the trail of a woman known only as "September", who commutes between London and New York in a whirlwind of drug smuggling, gambling, and high-class prostitution. A murder brings Saz and Maggie and their respective mysteries together. Smart and sexy, Calendar Girl is a lesbian thriller high on attitude and eroticism..
Biography
Stella
Duffy has written ten novels, the latest Mouths of Babes was published
in July this year. State of Happiness (2004) was long listed for the 2004
Orange Prize, and is in development with Fiesta Productions. She was co-editor
of the anthology Tart Noir, from which her story Martha Grace won the
2002 CWA Short Story Award. She has written over twenty five stories and
many feature articles. With the National Youth Theatre she adapted her
novel Immaculate Conceit for the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith.
As an actor she is a member of Improbable's Lifegame company, has worked
with comedy company Spontaneous Combustion for sixteen years and most
recently performed her second solo show Breaststrokes at BAC, in summer
2005 she wrote and directed Cell Sell for the National Youth Theatre at
the Soho Theatre.
Stella was born in South London and grew up in New Zealand. She has lived
in
the UK since 1986.
Contributors Testimonials
Comedienne Maggie who loves 'the girl with the Kelly McGillis body,'
comes from a family not dissimilar to my own in which although her sexuality
is known, it still remains the unmentionable. Duffy proffers a touching
exploration of the problems many of us have faced, not particularly in
terms of accepting our own sexuality, but rather the difficulties of maintaining
a same-sex partnership under the shadow of a disapproving orthodox family,
in which life-time partners are forever deemed ‘friends’ or
‘flat-mates’ by those who supposedly love us most.
Stella Duffy’s Calender Girl should be included in The Big Gay Read
not only because I found this understated detective story abundant with
snappy one-liners and enthralling through to the final few pages, but
also as it is an excellent crime novel in which the main protagonists
happen to be queer. It was a refreshing change to find lesbian fiction
crossing the boundaries into other genres and yet managing to include
well-rounded characters who are not wholly defined by their sexuality,
as is all too often the case.
Liz Done
Nothing
to do with the WI or nude calendar photos, this calendar girl is at the
centre of a missing- person mystery. The parallel stories of private eye
Saz Martin and Maggie, a stand-up comic who has fallen for Àthe girl with
the Kelly McGillis body” converge at the climax of a gripping read. You
will be moved by the heartfelt emotions of the love affair, impressed
by Saz¡s confidence and the suspense will keep you reading into the night.
This is the first of Stella Duffy¡s books to feature Saz Martin, and once
you have enjoyed this one you can follow her career through other titles.
Jane Mathieson