First Digital Edition; Grier Rating: A*** Frances has been married to Bill for many years. Their son, Bob, is in high school. Frances had been left alone too often. Bill's occupation with business, his insensitivity, his indifference had drained their marriage of meaning and warmth. Yet, it never occurred to her to think of divorce – or to have an affair with another man. It was easier to shut herself off from all desire, all feeling. It was like being dead… but it was safe. Then she met Mary Baker – Bake, for short. Bake… with her dark, knowing eyes, her young body, so alive, so full of passion and hunger. Shy Frances is drawn to Bake immediately and accepts her invitations for socializing… which leads to a certain amount of drinking and flirting. Before long, the relationship becomes much more than just a friendship – the two fall hard for each other and Frances becomes Bake’s girl. It’s not a smooth road for them, though, as Frances is married… still living at home with Bill and her son. With Bake’s encouragement, Frances regains strength as an individual and finds employment outside of the home. The independence she gains as a result of having her own money does wonders for Frances. For the first time in her life, she feels confident and courageous – strong enough, perhaps, to consider pursuing a new life for herself. Can she trust Bake's feelings for her? Will she leave Bill and her son? Can she trust Bake to stay with her if she does divorce her husband? Will our lovers fight against all odds to make their relationship survive?

From homicidal homos to locked-up lesbians, and almost every sexually dangerous combination in between, Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback is the first complete expose of queer sexuality in mid-twentieth century paperbacks. Compellingly written by historian Susan Stryker, Queer Pulp gives a complete overview of the cultural, political, and economic factors involved in the boom of queer paperbacks. With chapters covering gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexually oriented books, a lively overview of the genres, and loads of scorching paperback covers, Queer Pulp reveals the complicated and fascinating history of alternative sexual literature and book publishing. Featuring the work of well-known authors such as W. Somerset Maugham and Truman Capote to the low-brow and no-brow scribes who worked under several names, Queer Pulp is the entertaining and informative introduction to these lost, salacious literary genres.

First Digital Edition; Grier Rating: A*** Frances and her new husband, Bill, have recently moved to the Midwest to set up house in 1960s suburbia. Frances is determined to pull off a straight marriage in the wake of a bad lesbian affair, but it’s not working. No matter what she does, no matter what she tells herself, Frances knows she will never truly be happy or fulfilled with a man. While Bill is at work she ventures out in search of a woman to love. Frances meets Erika at a bookstore and is drawn to her immediately. The two women soon begin spending time together and before long, Frances falls head over heels in love with Erika. Fortunately, Erika also fancies Frances… and the women embark on a passionate love affair. Frances realizes she has never loved anyone as much as she loves Erika. Will she have the courage to extricate herself from a loveless marriage and make a life with Erika? Once again, novelist Valerie Taylor solidifies her position as one of the premiere writers in the Lesbian Pulp Fiction genre. Certainly few can match her dramatic realism and artistic sensitivity when writing about this subject matter.

A coming of age novel set in post-war France by an author who “launched the modern genre of the lesbian paperback” (Susan Stryker, author of Queer Pulp). When eighteen-year-old Cécile is orphaned at the end of World War II, the curious and adventurous Catholic student finds refuge in Paris, and with an older man. A former member of the Resistance with Cécile’s parents, Maurice is handsome, a thrilling cultured patron of the arts, and a mentor eager to introduce the budding young author to his intimate circle of friends—Cocteau, Sartre, and Eartha Kitt! As liberating an influence as he is, Maurice also encourages Cécile to shed her inhibitions he sees as bourgeois. Possessing a sensual and passionate temperament, Cécile is eager to begin exploring—by sharing Maurice’s mistress, and writing of every life-changing and delightfully scandalous new experience. Credited with penning the first, candidly lesbian novel—Women’s Barracks, in 1950—Tereska Torrès “scandalized mid-century America” (The New York Times). In By Cécile, written in 1963, “Madame Torres has re-imagined a youthful Colette (here called Cécile) in the infinitely seductive post-World War II period in Paris, where she moves like a sleeping princess through the perverse fairy tales of man-made cafe society. [It’s] a sharply perceptive novel” (Joan Schenkar, author of The Talented Miss Highsmith).

Beginning in 1869, when the study of homosexuality can be said to have begun with the establishment of sexology, this Encyclopedia offers accounts of the most important international developments in an area that now occupies a critical place in many fields of academic endeavours. While gays and lesbians have shared many aspects of life, their histories and cultures developed in profoundly different ways. To reflect this crucial fact, the Encyclopedia has been prepared in two separate volumes assuring that both histories receive full, unbiased attention and that a broad range of human experience is covered. Written by some of the most famous names in the field, as well as new researchers this is intended as a reference for students and scholars in all areas of study, as well as the general public.

Joyce is eighteen, a freshman at a fashionable school for girls; suddenly all that matters to her is a woman twice her age. This beautifully written pulp novel first appeared in 1957 and is widely considered a milestone for its openly lesbian, feminist content. Includes an introduction by Barbara Grier, co-founder of the legendary lesbian publisher Naiad Press.

The Bildungsroman has been one of the most significant genres in Western literature since the eighteenth century. This volume, comprised of eleven chapters by leading experts in the field, offers original insights into how the novel of formation developed a strong tradition in Germany, France, Britain, Russia, and the USA. In demonstrating how the genre has been adopted and adapted in innovative forms of fiction, this volume also shows how a genre traditionally associated with the young white man has been used to give expression to the formative experiences of women, LGBTQ people, and post-colonial populations. Exploring the genre's emergence and evolution in numerous countries and across more than two hundred years, this volume provides unprecedented historical and geographical coverage and demonstrates that the Bildungsroman has a rich heritage and a bright future.