Queer Patterns

by Lilyan Brock

Honey-haired, statuesque Sheila Case is the central character in this fascinating pulp lesbian fiction story about a young actress who is drawn to women and finds many women attracted to her. These attractions can be intriguing, even useful, as Sheila works to further her acting career in the harsh and competitive theater world. Sheila knew she had a crush on Nicoli from the first moment she met her. Cool and deliberately sensual, Nicoli allowed the attraction to develop into a deeply passionate affair both women were powerless to control. Before long, though, the dangerous game Sheila is playing to advance her acting career threatens to trap her in the very web she has woven, and ensnare the lovers in the glare of gossip, rumor and ostracism.

Against the backdrop of the theatre world, Queer Patterns is a story of powerful attraction, passionate love and the lengths to which two women will go to protect it against all odds.

Genres: LGBT, Fiction, Gay, Lesbian

205 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1952

Reviews

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely detest the cover to Queer Patterns, though it's rather typical of the time period it was first published. Lesbian pulp fiction covers often portray gay women as either "predators" or "weaklings" who are totally led astray and "mistaken" in their emotional "attachments."

In Queer Patterns, one of the ladies has decided she's not going to give in to her feelings (which can happen in modern romances, too, but for completely different reasons):

"The magnetism of this lovely being gripped Nicoli, making her remember the years she had fought to keep in check the side of her nature that she was determined to control--to sublimate--forcing herself to lead a loveless existence that she might adhere to a principle.

She would need that principle now as never before, because she knew that in Sheila was a woman whose lightest touch could forever destroy her staunchest resolutions.

Perhaps it would be best, she told herself, not to assign the role to her. How could she hope to stand the weeks of anguish which close proximity to Sheila would cause her?"

I don't get Nicoli's exact sentiments as much as I do her desperate need to fight her emotions for another person rather than her nature in general.

There are other captivating passages (even lovely ones) that still hold up today:

-She asked God why in His otherwise perfect universe He had created women such as herself, with the impulses and desires of men and the bodies of women. Certainly this was one of Fate's crudest jokes: to love so completely that which the world denied her. Why should it be irreconcilably wrong for her to adore Sheila?

-Sheila knew that so long as that bond remained unbroken there could be no relief from the overpowering sadness that gripped her heart and held it fast. She must definitely place a barrier between them, an insurmountable wall to keep her forever beyond the pale.

There's also a gorgeous passage about longing to have the right to marry as men and women do (a surprising vision and hope for that time period) that made me cry a bit. I can't find it right now (Kindle highlights, don't fail me now) but I hope to discover and then come back and post it here. :)

Queer Patterns is by no means an uplifting read (then or now), but it is an insightful one with better writing than you would expect from the pulps and a relevancy (about not fitting in with society's ideal of love) I'm sad to say still matters to some people in our world.

[Wendy Rouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lilyan Brock's 1935 book, Queer Patterns, tells the story of the deep love between Sheila Case, a famous Broadway actress, and Nicoli, a prominent playwright. Weathering rumors and public speculation about their relationship and multiple attempts by other lovers and suitors to steal their hearts, the two women remain devoted to each other until the very end. Brock sympathetically depicts the love between the two women. Yet, typical of the stories of this era, there is no happily ever after in this book. Reader be warned.

[Sarah Thornton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedious and predictable, with multiple dead lesbians.

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many dead gays which would be understandable for the time period if it werent also SO TEDIOUS.

[AP · Rating 5 out of 5]

ignore the last couple pages and its perfect

[Yuta Tamberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book truly of its time. Boring and difficult at times, it carries an overall strong and unfamiliar flavour. Some notions expressed as normal there, are strange and already unacceptable now. Yet some things ring clear and true still. All and all, don't expect too much, and the reading will turn out enjoyable, nostalgic and slightly exotic.