"A reappraisal of women who are known by history but whose histories are incomplete, To Believe in Women examines how their lesbianism may in fact have facilitated their accomplishments. Lillian Faderman persuasively argues that even before a "lesbian identity" was defined, many female leaders had what would now be called lesbian relationships, free from the constraints of traditional heterosexual arrangements, which might have impeded their pursuits...

Lesbian and bisexual literature over the past four centuries, tracing the evolution of the genre from romantic friendship, through the exotic and evil, to the explicitly sexual. An example of exotic and evil is provided by Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 vampire novella, Carmilla. By the author of Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers