08 - Anglo-American Alliance A Comic Love Story of the Future by Gregory Casparian

Praised by io9 as the first lesbian science fiction novel, *An Anglo-American Alliance* is a whimsical exploration of love, transformation, and geopolitics set in the imaginative year of 1960. In this world, the Anglo-American Alliance reigns as a global government, heralding a new era of technological and social progress. Yet, even in this seemingly utopian time, the love that dare not speak its name remains taboo. The narrative centers on the secret romance blossoming between two women, Margaret MacDonald and Aurora Cunningham, at a ladies seminary in Cornwall. As they navigate their hidden desires, they also learn to harness the powers of science and technology to turn their dreams into reality. Please note While the novel offers progressive insights on sexuality and gender identity, it also reflects the prejudices of its era, containing instances of ethnocentrism, antisemitism, and casual racism that may be uncomfortable for some listeners. - Summary by ChuckW

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter seven of An Anglo American Alliance. This is a
LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings were in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Chuck Williamson. An Anglo American Alliance by Gregory Casparian,

(00:27):
Chapter seven the Regatta. There was still one great event
before the closing of the academic year of the Diana
Seminary Seniors in which the class had taken extraordinary interest.
It was the first time in the history of the
Seminary that students were to take part in aquatic sports

(00:48):
against male contestants. The day for the Great Handicap Regatta,
a for ord affair between the senior class of the
Seminary and the sophomore class of the West Point Military Academy,
followed directly after graduation, the class grade being the handicap

(01:08):
allowed to the Seminary girls. Aurora and Margaret, after their
avowal and covenant, were again in normal condition, cheerful as
of yore, and as they were the most available pair
for the aquatic contest. From the beginning, they had been
chosen unanimously as the exponents of the class of nineteen sixty,

(01:32):
and they went into the execution of the sport with
thim and enthusiasm. As the event was a unique one,
it had become the most lively topic of conversation among
the people, and long before it took place, had caused
widespread interest in the country, having been advertised and exploited

(01:55):
extensively in the daily press. It is needless to say
that an un usually large concourse of visitors had arrived
by land and water to witness the classic and unusual contest.
The course of the race was laid near Poughkeepskie and
was in the shape of a heart, that is, starting

(02:17):
at a given point, side by side, they raced about
half a mile abreast, then one crew turning to port
and the other to starboard, diverging in a parabolic circle
past each other in the center within a short distance
of the starting point, and making counter circles. Started on

(02:37):
the home run, again abreast see diagram, page ninety. The
personnel of the seminary crew consisted of the following young ladies,
Aurora Cunningham, Coxswain, Margaret MacDonald, Stroke, Horatio Seymour number one,

(03:00):
Eunice Ward number two and Norma Southworth. At the bow.
When the preliminary signal to make ready was given. Both
the crews rowed gracefully to the starting ground and began
to maneuver. At the sharp report of the signal gun,
the two shells shot past the line, almost abreast, amidst

(03:23):
deafening acclamation from the spectators on the shore and the
shrill tooting and whistling of the sailing craft of every
description that had formed almost a compact circle around the course.
The calm and pleasant weather had allowed the waters of
the Hudson to run as smooth as a looking glass,

(03:43):
except for the turbulence caused by the ever restless pleasure
boats thronged with sightseers, each endeavoring to get a better
vantage point of the impending struggle. As the contest progressed,
the interest of the watchers began to increase. Thousands of
field and marine glasses and lorgnettes were leveled at the

(04:06):
racers as they sped along the course. The teams had
now reached a point of divergence and had begun to
recede from each other at every stroke on their parabolic circuit,
the boys turning to port and the girls to starboard,
but Alas, hardly had the seminary shell advanced half a

(04:26):
dozen strokes, when by some unexpected and inexplicable accident, Margaret's
feet slipped off the foot guard, and in an instant
she was thrown into the waters of the Hudson. The
shell meanwhile gliding swiftly by Instantly, the air was filled

(04:46):
by a deafening cry of dismay from the throats of
thousands of eager spectators, coupled with piercing whistles of the steamboats.
What a moment of anguish for the dying Ena Seminary girls.
What a shocking sense of humiliation for the fair contestants
to think that, in an event so crucial for their

(05:10):
honor and standing, such an unforeseen disaster should overwhelm them.
But fate was with them. It was decreed that such
a catastrophe should happen in order to heighten the grandeur
of their ultimate victory. While the spectators were still paralyzed

(05:30):
with the awful situation before them, there was activity and
heroism among the Diana mermaids in the shell. The instant Aurora,
with her alert eyes, saw Margaret's mishap. She realized at
once the situation and before the shell had glided past,
she leaned over and caught Margaret by the hair. By

(05:53):
the same impulsive and almost animal agility, Margaret grasped Aurora's arm,
and in another moment, with less loss of time than
would seem possible, she was again in the shell. In
a twinkling of an eye, the breathless girl had resumed
her place at the oar, as if nothing had happened.

(06:17):
Aware of the loss of distance by this unhwored accident,
which was in fact more than four boat's length, but undismayed,
and as if invigorated by her impromptu bath. In order
to recover lost ground, Margaret set the pace at a
higher speed and forged ahead with might and main. When

(06:41):
the throngs on land and water realized what had happened,
the din of exultation and cheering was beyond description, and
this did not abate until the race was finished. Overwrought
by the sight of this heroic exploit of the girls
and women had become madly hysterical. When the shells crossed

(07:05):
each other at the half mile stake, it was seen
that the seminary girls had recovered considerable ground, leaving a
margin of less than two boats length. Encouraged by the
splendid showing maid and goaded to endeavour by the rapturous
applause of the populace, Margaret and the rest of the

(07:25):
crew seemed to gain new strength, and when Aurora, with
the megaphone, gave the order of thirty six strokes a minute,
they set the pace with marvelous vigor and precision, causing
consternation among their masculine antagonists. On the completion of the
second parabola of their circuit, and when coming on to

(07:48):
the line for the home stretch, it was noticeable that
the Seminary shell was only a trifle behind. The crucial
moment had come were now almost abreast on the home stretch.
The intensity of the exciting scene had for a moment
cast a profound silence upon the spectators. Everyone was straining

(08:12):
his eyes and neck to see the momentous finish, only
to break again into a bedlam of rapturous shouting when
the girls were seen to be in the lead. It
was indeed a sight never to be forgotten. When the
Seminary Shells shot past the finish line a full boat's
length ahead, and the girls were acclaimed by the populace

(08:35):
as victors. The intensity of the joy of the throng
and the plight of their utter abandon can be conjectured
when it was discovered afterwards that eight hundred and ninety
one ladies in two thousand, three hundred and seventy nine
gentlemen's head gear were picked up in the Hudson. The

(08:59):
next day and through the week following, divers reaped a
good harvest by bringing up from the river's bed one thousand,
three hundred and ninety four field marine and opera classes
and two hundred and seventy five lorgnettes, besides innumerable parasols
and canes which the people in their abandoned had thrown about.

(09:24):
This episode was the crowning glory of the seminary and
the beginning of a new epoch in the history of
this institution. End of Chapter seven