May Sarton - novel - 1975 - p. 207    

Written by May Sarton, herself a major lesbian author, Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing features an accomplished lesbian author and contemplates her creative processes. Looking back on her career, Hilary Stevens prepares for an interview about her career and then gives the interview; the book touches on topics including mental health, gender, sexuality, creativity and productivity--but Stevens also values mundane ruminations on quotidian things and events in addition to more philosophical musings. Stevens mentors a young, gay male poet named Mar, whom she views as a sort of male counterpart to herself.

The novel’s title is taken from T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”

Key elements: art, homosexuality, lesbian, mental illness, teacher