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'' Spring Fire '' by Vin Packer is generally considered to be the first lesbian pulp novel. ''Spring Fire'', which was published by Gold Medal in 1952 and sold more than 1.5 million copies, is about two college girls, Mitch and Leda, who fall in love and have an affair. The tragic ending of this book is typical of lesbian pulp novels. Because the books travelled through the mail and because anything sent through the U.S. Postal Service was subject to government Censorship , publishers had to make sure that the books seemed in no way to prostelytize Homosexuality , which in the 1950s was generally thought to be pathological and/or immoral. No character was allowed to be both homosexual and happy at the book's end. A character had to either turn straight and end up coupled with a man or, if she remained homosexual, she had to suffer death, insanity or some equally unappealing fate. One notable exception to this formula is the book '' The Price Of Salt '' written by Patricia Highsmith under the pen name Claire Morgan. Lesbian pulp novels typically had lurid, titillating cover art. Although many women (both straight & lesbian) bought and read these novels, book publishers marketed them to men as erotic fantasy. Covers might have a few provocative lines of text meant to draw attention to the sexy and scandalous nature of what was between the covers. Publishers inserted words such as "twighlight", "odd", "strange", "shadows" and "queer" in the titles of these books, which made it easy for a consumer to guess what might be inside. Lesbian pulps were written by both women and men. Some of the better and better-known writers include Ann Bannon , Valerie Taylor , Gale Wilhelm, Miriam Gardner and Paula Christian (all pen names). EXTERNAL LINKS |
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