Nightwood is the best-known of the novels of Djuna Barnes, the American-born expat who spent much of her life among the lesbian circles in 1930s Paris. Published in 1936, it has long been considered her literary masterpiece, and is still regarded as one of the most influential works of modernist fiction.

This experimental novel explores the lives and loves of five eccentric and extraordinary people, and may be the first modern novel with a transgender character.

Nightwood was edited by T.S. Eliot. Barnes, then in her mid-40s, was still overwhelmed by the breakup with her lover, Thelma Wood. The novel follows the obsessive love affair of two women, which led to Barnes being called a “lesbian evangelist.” Despite the real-life parallel, Barnes despised and denied the label. Read More→