Lesbian Pulp Novels by Female Authors, Including Jane Rule, Sally Singer and Marijane Meaker (AKA Ann Aldrich)

Lesbian pulp fiction five-volume archive written by women, including both sensationalized commercial paperbacks and more introspective literary works, all navigating the constraints of mid-century gender norms, censorship, and queer invisibility. These novels—authored by women using both real names and pseudonyms—offer complex portraits of feminine longing, emotional intimacy, and social exile, often filtered through the coded language of “twilight love.” Unlike their male-authored counterparts, these texts frequently emphasize psychological realism, romantic interiority, and the emotional consequences of same-sex desire, even as they remain subject to (truncated) the editorial demands of pulp titillation.

[1] Jane Rule. Desert of the Heart. New York: Macmillan, 1964. First paperback edition, 1971.
Rule’s landmark debut and one of the earliest lesbian novels published by a mainstream press. Desert of the Heart follows Evelyn Hall, a repressed English professor undergoing a divorce in Reno, who falls in love with a younger casino worker, Ann. Without resorting to pulp’s usual punishment tropes, Rule offers a dignified, erotic, and emotionally complex rendering of lesbian love. A cornerstone of lesbian literary history and source for the 1985 film Desert Hearts. Light wear to wraps, very good.

[2] Paula Christian. Edge of Twilight. New York: Fawcett Gold Medal, 1959. Crest Book S2260.
“One of the most candid and challenging novels ever written about today’s women who dare to live in that outcast world of ‘twilight’ love.” This is Christian’s best-known and most widely circulated novel, notable for its sympathetic treatment of lesbian relationships. The cover features a melancholic embrace between two women, signaling both danger and tenderness. A transitional text between pulp and proto-lesbian literature. Near fine.

[3] Laura Duchamp (Sally Singer). The Other Extreme. New York: Midwood, 1965. Midwood No. 214.
“She was a model of propriety in public… but in private, she played games that would make a jaded prostitute blush.” Writing under tbe pseudonym Laura Duchamp, Singer explores a theme of dual identity: respectable exterior vs. secret erotic life. With photographic cover panels of a fully clothed and scantily clad woman, the novel captures the performative tension of mid-century feminine sexuality. Very good.

[4] Rea Michaels. Where Lovers Fear to Tread. New York: Domino Books, 1962. Domino No. 72-596.
“The path to stardom turned Zina into a strange woman of shadows.” This novel blends showbiz ambition with lesbian self-discovery, centering on a woman corrupted—then redeemed—by the affections of another. With bathhouse imagery and restrained seduction, it dramatizes queer desire through the lens of transformation and loss. Mild creasing, VG.

[5] Ann Aldrich (Marijane Meaker). We Walk Alone: Through Lesbos’ Lonely Groves. New York: Beacon, 1958. Beacon B154F.
“Of the love that dwells in twilight—the love that can never be told.” Aldrich (a pseudonym of Marijane Meaker, also known as Vin Packer) was one of the few women to write openly about lesbian life from a semi-journalistic perspective. Part exposé, part lament, We Walk Alone blends memoir and social commentary, describing lesbian bars, romantic disillusionment, and emotional survival in 1950s New York. A foundational document of mid-century queer nonfiction. Light edge wear, very good.

All volumes in original wrappers with evocative cover art or photography. Interiors complete and unmarked. Light toning and general wear consistent with age; overall very good condition across the archive. This archive gathers a rare female-authored perspective within the genre of lesbian pulp fiction, bridging the divide between commercial erotica and early queer literature. These titles illuminate how women writers shaped and subverted the conventions of the form, offering alternate, often more empathetic portrayals of lesbian identity than the voyeuristic narratives dominant in the male-authored pulp canon. A vital grouping for scholars of LGBTQ history, feminist print culture, and the evolution of queer representation in American literature. (Inventory #: 21937)