Female Authored Lesbian Pulp Fiction Collection, 1960-65

Valerie Taylor March Hastings Artemis Smith Paula Christian

Collection

[LGBTQ] [Lesbian Pulp] Lesbian pulp novels published between 1960 and 1965, a crucial phase in the emergence of lesbian literature in American pulp publishing. These authors wrote about queer experience at a time when lesbian representation was largely dominated by heterosexual male writers and constrained by censorship that required publishers to present same sex desire through salacious marketing and "moralizing" (tragic or heterosexual) endings. Valerie Taylor (Velma Nacella Young), Paula Christian (Yvonne MacManus), and March Hastings (Sally Singer) were among the small group of queer women producing lesbian novels that treated relationships between women with greater emotional complexity and personal insight, exploring themes of lesbian identity and the social consequences of living as an open, or closeted, gay woman. Several titles by these authors were later identified by lesbian bibliographer Barbara Grier as “A” tier works in The Lesbian in Literature, indicating major lesbian thematic content and sympathetic narrative treatment. Archive includes:
[1] Valerie Taylor (Pen name of Velma Nacella Young). Stranger on Lesbos. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Crest, 1960. First Crest printing, February 1960. One of Taylor’s most enduring works, centering on Frances, a discontented wife whose encounter with a vibrant lesbian social circle leads her to confront her own desires. A landmark title in Grier’s A tier for its substantial lesbian content and refusal to deliver a purely punitive ending.

[2] March Hastings (Pen name of Sally Singer). Crack-Up. Chicago: Newsstand Library, 1961. First printing. Subtitled on the cover: “The torment of a woman—frustrated in marriage—torn between desire and compassion.” Hastings, one of pulp’s most prolific lesbian authors, explores emotional collapse and the redemptive possibilities of same-sex love with more psychological nuance than the genre typically allowed.

[3] Artemis Smith (Pen name of Annselm Morpurgo). This Bed We Made. Derby, CT: Monarch Books, 1964. First Monarch edition, originally published 1961. Greenwich Village–set tale of Elaine Perkins, who marries to satisfy societal expectations but is drawn into a relationship with Nicole, an artist’s model. Back cover tagline: “Wife or Lesbian?”

[4] Valerie Taylor (Pen name of Velma Nacella Young). Unlike Others. New York: Midwood-Tower, 1963. First edition. From the author of Whisper Their Love and Stranger on Lesbos, Unlike Others follows women whose relationships defy convention and societal approval. Known for infusing pulp conventions with emotional depth, Taylor was one of the few openly lesbian pulp authors of her time.

[5] Morgan Ives (Pen name of Marion Zimmer Bradley). Spare Her Heaven. Derby, CT: Monarch Books, 1963. First edition. The story of Kathara, a stage performer worshiped as the “Goddess of the Temple of Joy,” whose allure draws both men and women into a cult-like world of pleasure. While framed through pulp’s “devil or angel” dichotomy, Ives weaves subversive notes of female autonomy into the sensational plot.

[6] Paula Christian (Pen name of Yvonne MacManus). The Other Side of Desire. New York: Paperback Library, 1965. First printing. “Is it lust or love when one woman desires another woman?” Carrie risks her marriage, children, and reputation for an affair with Kim, only to find herself enslaved to “forbidden sex.”

The significance of these novels lies in their authorship and perspective. During the 1950s and 1960s lesbian pulp fiction formed one of the few widely distributed literary spaces where queer women could encounter representations of same sex relationships, even when those narratives were sensationalized by commercial marketing. Writers such as Taylor, Christian, and Hastings expanded the thematic range of the genre by incorporating elements drawn from lived queer experience, including emotional partnership, internal conflict, and the pressures of secrecy. Six volumes total. Standard mid century mass market paperback format. Moderate handling wear consistent with newsstand distribution, including light edge wear and toning. Overall very good condition.

Item #22542

Price: $1,500.00