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A lot of mainstream lesbian narratives are afraid<\/a> to lean into messiness of relationships. The suffering in so much Queer media comes from similar inciting conflicts: a character having to shield an identity from the public or tackle day-to-day homophobia, only to be relieved by Queer community, in the form of a Queer friend or an internet subgroup. But Kim Narby\u2019s debut novel \u201cSaturn Returning\u201d \u2014 the first release from new publishing imprint Sapph-Lit<\/a> \u2014 has the nerve to stand face to face with chaotic reality, one where Queer women knowingly agonize each other, rather than deriving their pain solely from homonormative<\/a> culture.<\/p>\n \u201cSaturn Returning\u201d follows three Queer best friends \u2014 Trace, Silvia and Jordan \u2014 over a decade, from meeting in their college years to their big city life-post grad. Trace and Silvia are engaged, until Trace calls Jordan one day and professes her love for her \u2014 a true love triangle.\u00a0<\/p>\n The book is structured with multiple timelines and perspective switches between the friends, so readers get all angles on this decade of friendship. Because their lives are so intertwined, these changes in perspective and even extreme time jumps never feel jarring. In a book as character-heavy as this one, this choice highlights the gravity of each spiraling argument, and none of the emotion in the book ever feels unrealistic or misplaced.<\/p>\n Arguments are central to the plot of the novel, as expected in any love triangle. All of these intense moments felt fully realized and realistic. Even at their most dramatic, none of the conversations felt absurd. Everything was delivered with the correct level of emotion, evidently pulling from lived experience.<\/p>\n