Catherine, Catherine: Lesbian Short Stories

Janet Money is Sports Editor of the Woodstock Daily Sentinel-Review.

The heart of MacDonald’s first short-story collection is the Catherine
Trilogy, stories based on historical accounts of a cross-dressing
lesbian, Catherina Margaretha Linck, who was tried and executed in
eighteenth-century Germany on a charge of sodomy. MacDonald tells the
story from three points of view: Linck’s, a justice official’s, and
Linck’s woman lover’s (also named Catherine). This is not just a
literary exercise; MacDonald does demonstrate skill at her craft, but
she also evokes feeling by showing both sides of the relationship, and
provides social perspective in the justice’s account.

Other stories range from conventional narratives to lyrical bites of
prose. “Aardvark to Annalida” is the story of a child travelling
with her encyclopedia-selling father while her parents’ marriage
disintegrates. “Travelling West” is a relationship story told in a
series of short, effective vignettes and “Want for Nothing” works as
a humorous fantasy.

MacDonald, whose work has appeared in anthologies and periodicals, is a
talented voice in the growing field of Canadian lesbian literature.