Additional Reading

Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness (1928) is considered the classic lesbian novel and a precursor to the pulps. Two of Gale Wilhelm's novels, Torchlight to Valhalla and We Too Are Drifting, are considered classics of lesbian literature.

Early (non-pulp) novels with appreciable lesbian content include:

• Baker, Dorothy. Cassandra at the Wedding. (1962) 813.4 B167YC.
• Baker, Dorothy. Trio. (1943) 813.52 B167 T834 1943.
• Bowen, Elizabeth. The Hotel. (1928) 828.91 W913H.
• Bowen, Elizabeth. The Little Girls. (1963) 823.91 B786LI.
• Radclyffe Hall. The Well of Loneliness. (1928) E #14888.
• Wilhelm, Gale. Torchlight to Valhalla. (1938, 1939, 1985) E #13099.
• Wilhelm, Gale. We Too Are Drifting. (1938, 1935, 1958, 1984) E #17066, E 12mo #5361, E #13098.

For an introduction to the historical context and critical interpretation of lesbian pulp fiction, you may wish to consult these secondary sources, available in Perkins Library stacks:

• Susanna Benns. "Sappho in Soft Cover: Notes on Lesbian Pulp." In Fireworks: The Best of Fireweed. Ed. Makeda Silvera. (Perkins 810.809287 F523 1986)
• J. D'Emilio. Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940-1970. (Perkins 306.7660973 D381 S518 1983)
• Jeannette H. Foster. Sex Variant Women in Literature: A History and Quantitative Survey. (First Edition, 1956, Perkins 809 F755S)
• Barbara Grier. Lesbian in Literature. (Perkins 016.8088 G848 L623 1981) Features many photos of lesbian authors from every era.
• Diane Hamer. "'I Am a Woman': Ann Bannon and the Writing of Lesbian Identity in the 1950s." Lesbian and Gay Writing: An Anthology of Critical Essays. Ed. Mark Lilly. (Perkins 820.9353 L623 1990)
• Joan Nestle. "Butch-Femme Relationships: Sexual Courage in the 1950s." In Nestle's A Restricted Country. (Perkins 306.7663092 N468 R436 1987)
• Jean Radford. "An Inverted Romance: The Well of Loneliness and Sexual Ideology." In Radford's (ed) The Progress of Romance: The Politics of Popular Fiction. (Perkins 823.08509 P963 1986)
• Lee Server. Over My Dead Body: The Sensational Age of the American Paperback, 1945-1955. (Perkins 070.5730973 S491 O96 1994)
• Dawn B. Sova. Passion and Penance: The Lesbian in Pulp Fiction. (On order for Perkins as of 12/99.)
• Jeff Weinstein, "In Praise of Pulp: Bannon's Lusty Lesbians," Voice Literary Supplement, no. 20 (Oct. 1983), pp. 8-9 (Perkins Microfilm S119)
• Roberta Yusba. "Odd Girls and Strange Sisters. Lesbian Pulp Novels of the '50s," Out/Look, Spring 1991, pp. 34-37. (Perkins Periodicals O94S)
• Jaye Zimet. Strange Sisters. The Art of Lesbian Pulp Fiction, 1949-1969. (Perkins 741.64 Z71, S897, 1999)