The author of the witty novel Stir Fry here turns her attention to lesbians during the late 17th and 18th centuries when wit ruled salons, . Donoghue's copious research of the legal, medical, and literary texts of the period find a lesbian culture almost as broad as our own, from working class "female husbands" to aristocratic "play-fellows" and "romantic friends." Reading this book will imbue the costume changes in Restoration drama with a whole new meaning.