#lespulp

Despite all the care devoted to developing cover art that would activate male gonads, women learned to recognize what was a nascent literature of their own by reading the covers iconically. If there was a solitary woman on the cover, provocatively dressed, and the title conveyed her rejection by society or her self-loathing, it was a lesbian book. If there were two women on the cover, and they were touching each other … it was a lesbian book. Even if they were just looking at each other; even if they were simply in proximity to one another; even if they were merely on the same cover together, it was reason to hope you had found a lesbian book. And if a lone male, whether looking embarrassed, hostile, or sexually deprived, appeared with two women, you had probably struck gold ... (from the Foreword by Ann Bannon)

An honest, explosive novel that turns conventional ideas of 1950s femininity upside down, The Girls in 3-B reveals in page-turning detail the hidden world of mid-century America, showcasing predatory Beatnik men, workplace intrigues, drug hallucinations, repressed family secrets, and clandestine lesbian trysts. From the hip-hang of a bohemian lifestyle to the sophisticated lure of a wealthy boss to the happier—but taboo—security of a lesbian relationship, these three young women experience first-hand the adventures and the limitations that await spirited young working women who strike out on their own in a decidedly male-centered world.

A highly-talented writer, Valerie Taylor brings us the poignant and absorbing story of a young woman's search for love and fulfillment in a world of shadowed embraces and secret vows. And, as is often the case with her lesbian pulps, Ms. Taylor refuses to condemn her characters to negative and tragic consequences.

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.

Third in the Erika Frohmann series, classic lesbian novels from the 50s and 60s.

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 from 1957 is widely considered a historic milestone for its openly lesbian, feminist content.

Erika Frohmann becomes involved with Kate in the second book of her continuing adventures as a lesbian.

Originally published in 1950, this account of life among female Free French soldiers in a London barracks during World War II sold four million copies in the United States alone and many more millions worldwide.

The novel is based on the real-life experiences of the author, Tereska Torres, who escaped from occupied France. She arrived as a refugee in London and joined other exiles enlisting in Charles de Gaulle’s army, then stationed in Britain awaiting an invasion of their homeland by Allied forces. But Women’s Barracks is no ordinary war story.

As the Blitz rains down over London, taboos are broken, affairs start and stop and hearts are won and lost. Women’s Barracks was banned for obscenity in several states. It was also denounced by the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials in 1952 as an example of how the paperback industry was “promoting moral degeneracy.” But in spite of such efforts—or perhaps, in part, because of them—the novel became a record-breaking bestseller and inspired a whole new genre: lesbian pulp.