Patience and Sarah
Encyclopedia
Patience and Sarah is a 1969 historical fiction
novel with strong lesbian themes
by Alma Routsong
, using the pen name
Isabel Miller. It was originally self-published under the title A Place For Us and eventually found a publisher as Patience and Sarah in 1971.
Routsong's novel is based on a real-life painter named Mary Ann Willson
who lived with her companion Miss Brundage as a "farmerette" in the early 19th century in Greene County, New York
. Routsong said she came upon Willson's work in a folk art
museum in Cooperstown
and was inspired to write the story after reading the description of Willson and Brundage. It tells the story of two women in Connecticut
in 1816 who fall in love and decide to leave their homes to buy a farm in another state or territory and live in a Boston marriage
. The story addresses the limited opportunities and roles of women in early America
, gender
expression, and the interpretation of religion in everyday life.
Sarah Waters
, author of Tipping the Velvet
and other historical novels with lesbian themes, has said that this book was an influence on her writing. She received the book from a girlfriend in 1988 at age 22 and was "struck by the lyricism and economy of it, by its gentle humour, and by its sexiness."
s between Patience and Sarah. The first part is told by Patience White, a woman of considerable means compared to others in her town. Her father died and left her enough money that she would not have to marry to be cared for. She lives with her brother and his wife and children, in a room she has to herself, something her sister-in-law Martha considers an unnatural privilege. Patience paints Biblical scenes as a pastime, and helps Martha with the children sometimes. They do not get along well.
Patience has known of Sarah Dowling for a while since Sarah is a scandalous character to some, wearing pants and doing men's work. Sarah has a family of sisters and her father trained her to do men's work since he had no sons. Intrigued one day when Sarah delivers firewood to the White household, and to flout Martha, Patience invites Sarah into her part of the house and socializes with her. Sarah divulges that she plans to set out by herself and go west and buy her own farm. Not having the heart to tell her that she will not have the opportunity to do it, Patience indulges Sarah and tells her she wants to come along. In the midst of planning the trip west, Sarah admits she feels for Patience, and although too aware of the danger, Patience also admits her attraction for Sarah.
Sarah returns to her much poorer home, where she lives with her large family in a one-room cabin. She tells her sister Rachel that she's going west with Patience as her mate, and Rachel, upset by being replaced to go west by Patience, tells their father who beats Sarah, then drags her to Patience's home to demand to know the nature of their relationship. Faced with having to admit their acts in front of witnesses, Patience denies she feels anything for Sarah and that it was all a game.
The narrative switches to Sarah's perspective as she cuts off all her hair, renames herself "Sam", takes an axe and walks west alone, healing from the beatings her father gave her (no harm meant, he says). After a few experiences that demonstrate the risks of freedom, Sam takes up with a traveling Parson who goes town to town selling books in a horse-drawn rig he sleeps in. He teaches Sam to defend himself against boys in towns, to cook, teaches him about the Bible
and other cultures, but most importantly, teaches him to read. In time, Parson admits he's attracted to Sam and when he tries to seduce Sam, Sarah admits her true identity.
Away about six months, Sarah heads home again as Parson heads towards New York, his home. Patience arrives the next day to casually invite her to Sunday dinner. Sarah accpets, and their relationship starts again after Patience admits she lost her courage. They carry on their relationship, Sarah visiting Patience on Sundays, sometimes bringing a sister or her mother, but when they are caught embracing with their bodice
s open by Martha, Patience's brother tells them it's time for them to go.
They head to New York City
with brother Edward's blessing. Thinking Sarah is lower-class, a man on the ship assaults her, but Patience rescues her and teaches her the necessary points of being a lady. They lodge with the captain and in their first locked room alone, consummate their relationship. They meet up with the Parson again and decide that upstate New York in Greene County will be their destination, where land is cheap and they can live in peace.
They arrive in Greene County and they negotiate the purchase of a small farm, plant their crop and begin their life together.
and at meetings of the Daughters of Bilitis
. She contacted Gene Damon (Barbara Grier
) at The Ladder
, who also promoted the book in the book review section of the magazine, calling it "a gem" and that, "it very much belongs with that small bookshelf full of basic classics of Lesbian literature." Grier also had to assure their readership, who had to order the book directly from Routsong that she was an actual person, not a police agency. Routsong then resubmitted the novel to publishers under a pseudonym
.
by Paula M. Kimper, to a libretto by Wende Persons. It debuted at the Lincoln Center Festival
in 1998, and has been revived several times since. Alma Routsong gave her approval to the project shortly before her death, but did not survive to hear more than a few songs from the score performed privately. The idea for the opera originated with Persons's crush on a soprano in 1981, when Persons wrote the music to impress her. When she was rejected, she kept the work until she met Kimper and they both revived its creation in 1989.
Concerning the 1996 pre-premiere of the semi-staged final draft, with piano accompaniment, The New York Times
claimed it had "an accessible, attractively lyrical score" and that, "Sarah has a gorgeous, Ravelian
aria
at the start of the second act." The 1998 premiere of the completed work was also well reviewed: The Opera News
claimed "the opera bubbles with glorious vocal writing" and the best parts were the duets between Patience and Sarah, but that Parson Peel's music actually stole the show.
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
novel with strong lesbian themes
Lesbian fiction
Lesbian fiction is a subgenre of fiction that involves one or more primary female homosexual character and lesbian themes. Novels that fall into this category may be of any genres, such as, but not limited to, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and romance.-History:The first...
by Alma Routsong
Alma Routsong
Alma Routsong was an American novelist best known for her lesbian fiction, published under the pen name Isabel Miller.-Biography:...
, using the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Isabel Miller. It was originally self-published under the title A Place For Us and eventually found a publisher as Patience and Sarah in 1971.
Routsong's novel is based on a real-life painter named Mary Ann Willson
Mary Ann Willson
Mary Ann Willson was an American folk artist, known for her watercolors. She was unknown until 1943, when a portfolio of her work was discovered by a gallery in New York...
who lived with her companion Miss Brundage as a "farmerette" in the early 19th century in Greene County, New York
Greene County, New York
Greene County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Its name is in honor of the American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene. Its county seat is Catskill...
. Routsong said she came upon Willson's work in a folk art
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
museum in Cooperstown
Cooperstown, New York
Cooperstown is a village in Otsego County, New York, USA. It is located in the Town of Otsego. The population was estimated to be 1,852 at the 2010 census.The Village of Cooperstown is the county seat of Otsego County, New York...
and was inspired to write the story after reading the description of Willson and Brundage. It tells the story of two women in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
in 1816 who fall in love and decide to leave their homes to buy a farm in another state or territory and live in a Boston marriage
Boston marriage
Boston marriage as a term is said to have been in use in New England in the decades spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries to describe two women living together, independent of financial support from a man. The term was little known until the debut in 2000 of the David Mamet play of the...
. The story addresses the limited opportunities and roles of women in early America
History of the United States (1789–1849)
With the election of George Washington as the first president in 1789, the new government acted quickly to rebuild the nation's financial structure. Enacting the program of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, the government assumed the Revolutionary war debts of the state and the national...
, gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
expression, and the interpretation of religion in everyday life.
Sarah Waters
Sarah Waters
Sarah Waters is a British novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society, such as Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith.-Childhood:Sarah Waters was born in Neyland, Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1966....
, author of Tipping the Velvet
Tipping the Velvet
Tipping the Velvet is an historical novel written by Sarah Waters published in 1998. Set in Victorian England during the 1890s, it tells a coming of age story about a young woman named Nan who falls in love with a male impersonator, follows her to London, and finds various ways to support herself...
and other historical novels with lesbian themes, has said that this book was an influence on her writing. She received the book from a girlfriend in 1988 at age 22 and was "struck by the lyricism and economy of it, by its gentle humour, and by its sexiness."
Plot summary
The story is told in switching first-person narrativeFirst-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
s between Patience and Sarah. The first part is told by Patience White, a woman of considerable means compared to others in her town. Her father died and left her enough money that she would not have to marry to be cared for. She lives with her brother and his wife and children, in a room she has to herself, something her sister-in-law Martha considers an unnatural privilege. Patience paints Biblical scenes as a pastime, and helps Martha with the children sometimes. They do not get along well.
Patience has known of Sarah Dowling for a while since Sarah is a scandalous character to some, wearing pants and doing men's work. Sarah has a family of sisters and her father trained her to do men's work since he had no sons. Intrigued one day when Sarah delivers firewood to the White household, and to flout Martha, Patience invites Sarah into her part of the house and socializes with her. Sarah divulges that she plans to set out by herself and go west and buy her own farm. Not having the heart to tell her that she will not have the opportunity to do it, Patience indulges Sarah and tells her she wants to come along. In the midst of planning the trip west, Sarah admits she feels for Patience, and although too aware of the danger, Patience also admits her attraction for Sarah.
Sarah returns to her much poorer home, where she lives with her large family in a one-room cabin. She tells her sister Rachel that she's going west with Patience as her mate, and Rachel, upset by being replaced to go west by Patience, tells their father who beats Sarah, then drags her to Patience's home to demand to know the nature of their relationship. Faced with having to admit their acts in front of witnesses, Patience denies she feels anything for Sarah and that it was all a game.
The narrative switches to Sarah's perspective as she cuts off all her hair, renames herself "Sam", takes an axe and walks west alone, healing from the beatings her father gave her (no harm meant, he says). After a few experiences that demonstrate the risks of freedom, Sam takes up with a traveling Parson who goes town to town selling books in a horse-drawn rig he sleeps in. He teaches Sam to defend himself against boys in towns, to cook, teaches him about the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and other cultures, but most importantly, teaches him to read. In time, Parson admits he's attracted to Sam and when he tries to seduce Sam, Sarah admits her true identity.
Away about six months, Sarah heads home again as Parson heads towards New York, his home. Patience arrives the next day to casually invite her to Sunday dinner. Sarah accpets, and their relationship starts again after Patience admits she lost her courage. They carry on their relationship, Sarah visiting Patience on Sundays, sometimes bringing a sister or her mother, but when they are caught embracing with their bodice
Bodice
A bodice, historically, is an article of clothing for women, covering the body from the neck to the waist. In modern usage it typically refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the upper portion of a modern dress to distinguish it from...
s open by Martha, Patience's brother tells them it's time for them to go.
They head to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with brother Edward's blessing. Thinking Sarah is lower-class, a man on the ship assaults her, but Patience rescues her and teaches her the necessary points of being a lady. They lodge with the captain and in their first locked room alone, consummate their relationship. They meet up with the Parson again and decide that upstate New York in Greene County will be their destination, where land is cheap and they can live in peace.
They arrive in Greene County and they negotiate the purchase of a small farm, plant their crop and begin their life together.
Distribution and sale of the book
Routsong originally published 1,000 copies of the book using her own money, selling them on street corners in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and at meetings of the Daughters of Bilitis
Daughters of Bilitis
The Daughters of Bilitis , was the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. It was formed in San Francisco in 1955, conceived as a social alternative to lesbian bars, which were considered illegal and thus subject to raids and police harassment...
. She contacted Gene Damon (Barbara Grier
Barbara Grier
Barbara Grier was an American writer and publisher most widely known for co-founding Naiad Press and writing and editing The Ladder under the pseudonym Gene Damon.-Early life:...
) at The Ladder
The Ladder (magazine)
The Ladder was the first nationally distributed lesbian publication in the United States. It was published monthly from 1956 to 1970, and once every other month in 1971 and 1972. It was the primary publication and method of communication for the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization...
, who also promoted the book in the book review section of the magazine, calling it "a gem" and that, "it very much belongs with that small bookshelf full of basic classics of Lesbian literature." Grier also had to assure their readership, who had to order the book directly from Routsong that she was an actual person, not a police agency. Routsong then resubmitted the novel to publishers under a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
.
Awards and nominations
- The novel won the Stonewall Book AwardStonewall Book AwardSponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table of the American Library Association , the Stonewall Book Award is for LGBT books...
for 1971. - Patience and Sarah was listed as #24 on The Publishing Triangle's list of 100 Best Lesbian and Gay Novels.
Adaptations
The novel was adapted into an operaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
by Paula M. Kimper, to a libretto by Wende Persons. It debuted at the Lincoln Center Festival
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
in 1998, and has been revived several times since. Alma Routsong gave her approval to the project shortly before her death, but did not survive to hear more than a few songs from the score performed privately. The idea for the opera originated with Persons's crush on a soprano in 1981, when Persons wrote the music to impress her. When she was rejected, she kept the work until she met Kimper and they both revived its creation in 1989.
Concerning the 1996 pre-premiere of the semi-staged final draft, with piano accompaniment, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
claimed it had "an accessible, attractively lyrical score" and that, "Sarah has a gorgeous, Ravelian
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
at the start of the second act." The 1998 premiere of the completed work was also well reviewed: The Opera News
Opera News
Opera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
claimed "the opera bubbles with glorious vocal writing" and the best parts were the duets between Patience and Sarah, but that Parson Peel's music actually stole the show.