Nearly 100 years after its original 1928 publication sent shockwaves through the literary scene, Ladies Almanack reigns as a brilliant modernist composition and one of the most audacious lesbian texts of the 20th century.

A 'striking lesbian manifesto and a deft parody' by the acclaimed author of Nightwood. – Library Journal

Nearly 100 years after its original 1928 publication sent shockwaves through the literary scene, Ladies Almanack reigns as a brilliant modernist composition and one of the most audacious lesbian texts of the 20^th century. At once a scathing social satire and a love letter to the wealthy expatriates of Paris high society, the book delights in its cast of characters, who are clear analogues to Barnes’ lesbian literary contemporaries – and the book’s first readers.

Arranged by month and written in a pastiche of Restoration literature, Ladies Almanack records the life and lovers of Dame Evangeline Musset, a pseudonymous stand-in for Natalie Clifford Barney. Accompanied for the first time by Barnes’ original Elizabethan-style woodcut illustrations, this new edition also features a sharp, impassioned introduction by Sarah Schulman reflecting on the ways in which lesbian lives have changed – and haven’t – since the 1920s. After decades out of print, Dalkey Archive is proud to revive the Ladies Almanack for contemporary readers: a classic that delivers all the salacious drama of The L Word with the literary wit and wordplay of Shakespeare.

Details

ISBN13: 9781628975581
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 100
Edition:
Publication Date: 01 Jul 2026
Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press
Publication City, Country: Normal, IL, United States
Dimensions (cm): 20.3(H)x15.2(L)652
Weight (gm): 652

Author Biography

Djuna Barnes (1892-1982) is best known as the author of Nightwood, one of the finest novels of the modernist period. She published works in virtually every genre: short stories, poetry, journalism, drama, and pastiche, often illustrated with her own drawings. A notorious figure in the 1920s and 1930s, she became a recluse in her later years and was largely forgotten. But since her death, a major biography and several critical studies have established her importance in 20th-century literature. Dalkey Archive Press has reissued her Nightwood, Ryder, and Ladies Almanack.

Sarah Schulman is a novelist, playwright, nonfiction writer, screenwriter, and AIDS historian. Her 21st book is The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity.

Reviews

“Ladies Almanack bend[s] language to its whims as it feverishly chronicles the characters’ lust, longing, and elation… Imagine a fragmented literary romp full of bawdy allusions inspired by gossip from your snarkiest group chat.” —The Believer