Books like Irrepressible by Emily Bingham
Henrietta Bennett grew up as the scion of one of the South’s most powerful families, destined to inherit a publishing empire. Instead, she plunged into the roaring twenties, leaving New York, Louisville, and London in her wake as she indulged in the era’s excesses.
Her life of seduction and self‑destructing indulgence was punctuated by intense lesbian relationships that drew public scorn and a misguided medical attempt at redemption. The weight of judgment, combined with her own inner struggles, led Henrietta into years of alcoholism, addiction and personal breakdowns.
Irrepressible charts her rise and fall, capturing the clash between upper‑class privilege, queer identity and the unforgiving social mores of early twentieth‑century America.
First publish date: 2015
Genre: Biography & Autobiography/Biography
Authors: Emily Bingham
★
★
★
★
★
0.0 (0 community ratings)
How are these books recommended?
The books recommended for Irrepressible by Emily Bingham are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.
Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier
for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.
Books similar to Irrepressible (13 similar books)
Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir, *Fun Home*, chronicles her complex relationship with her father, a funeral-home director, and her own coming-of-age as a lesbian, using intimate drawings and witty narrative.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks follows the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor black tobacco farmer whose cancer cells were taken in 1951 without her consent and later became the first immortal human cell line, HeLa, driving major scientific breakthroughs while raising questions of ethics, race, and medical exploitation.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A memoir of a woman who overcomes a strict survivalist Mormon upbringing in rural Idaho to pursue higher education, ultimately earning a PhD in history at Cambridge.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A memoir that traces a violent lesbian relationship, dissects psychological abuse, and challenges queer stereotypes while weaving literary tropes and cultural critique into an innovative narrative structure.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Roxane Gay’s memoir "Hunger" confronts her struggles with food, body image, and trauma, offering a candid look at healing through self‑care and acceptance.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Jenn Shapland’s debut biography blends a scholarly look at Carson McCullers with her own exploration of queer identity, memory, and love, drawing on newly found letters to uncover a hidden side of the famed writer.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A biography that reveals the hidden life of Samuel M. Steward—novelist, poet, professor, and post‑Stonewall tattoo artist—through unpublished diaries and research correspondence, illustrating early homosexual existence in America.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A powerful memoir of Charles M. Blow’s rise from a childhood marked by violence and racism in segregated Louisiana to becoming a leading journalist and public intellectual.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A photographic journey through late‑1980s America that captures the varied lives of gay and lesbian communities, illustrating their efforts to form families, reconcile faith, and confront both racism and homophobia.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Joan Schenkar’s biography of Patricia Highsmith traces her journey from Texas to European exile, revealing the writer behind classic thrillers and her complex personal life.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A collection of intensely personal stories of women discovering and expressing their true selves, from the 1940s to the present day, reflecting the changing social mores that shaped their lives and experiences.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A memoir exploring the intersection of Christian Science, religion, and family in 20th-century America.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore’s memoir traces her journey from fledgling queer activist to bold radical writer, chronicling the formative years of San Francisco’s contemporary LGBTQ movement.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Some Other Similar Books
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGheeBecoming Free: The History of the Underground Railroad by Kirkpatrick Hill
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Story by Melissa Fleming
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
March: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!
Please login to submit books!