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In the Shadows
• First Digital Edition
• Lesbian Fiction Pulp
• Grier Rating: A**
She Couldn't Keep Her Hands Off Her Brother's Wife!
What torture to be in the same room with Kathy… not being able to say what she really felt about her, not being able to fondle her warm, nude body as she posed on the podium. Yes, Elaine Ransome had been successful her whole life competing against men; she'd climbed to the top of the ladder over their dead-tired bodies, but she needed and wanted something more. And for a while, kittenish Terry Brooks fulfilled that powerful desire within her.
Then... her brother brought his wife, Kathy, to the city, and temptation built up within Elaine to a smashing climax she couldn’t control!
• Lesbian Fiction Pulp
• Grier Rating: A**
She Couldn't Keep Her Hands Off Her Brother's Wife!
What torture to be in the same room with Kathy… not being able to say what she really felt about her, not being able to fondle her warm, nude body as she posed on the podium. Yes, Elaine Ransome had been successful her whole life competing against men; she'd climbed to the top of the ladder over their dead-tired bodies, but she needed and wanted something more. And for a while, kittenish Terry Brooks fulfilled that powerful desire within her.
Then... her brother brought his wife, Kathy, to the city, and temptation built up within Elaine to a smashing climax she couldn’t control!
181 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1962
3 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Joan Ellis
15 books4 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 15, 2011
"She Couldn't Keep Her Hands Off Her Brother's Wife"
The above back cover blurb says it all.
In The Shadows is from the paperback genre often referred to as the "sleazy pulps", but really they were just noir-ish melodramas peppered with some racy sex scenes.
I have a huge addiction to these vintage paperback pulps. Originally I began collecting them for the knockout, colorful, sexy cover art. But many of these books are just as enticing between the covers. They were often well written, engaging stories penned by authors well versed in the mechanics of how to tell a good story. Due to the social constraints of the time, the writers were forced to be quite creative in their phrasing of sex scenes and even sexual thoughts. The results were often hilarious and always entertaining.
This particular book was part of the "Lesbian Pulp" sub genre of the sleazy pulps, paperbacks that were marketed to titillate heterosexual males but were also secretly read by gay women at the time.
In The Shadows was written by the superbly talented and prolific Joan Ellis (Julie Ellis today), one of the best vintage pulp writers. A solid story with a well developed tormented main character, it is a fast entertaining read, but not one of Joan Ellis's best. Ellis always seemed to do her best writing when dealing in another pulp sub-genre, the teenage dramas.
Still, there is a great Mad Men type feel to this story. It takes place in NYC in the 1960's and the main character Elaine is a high powered advertising executive competing in a chauvinistic world where she is hiding a forbidden secret as her world begins to crumbles around her.
Thanks to Digital Vintage Pulps this book has been restored and made available on Kindle, which is great news since tracking down readable (and affordable) copies of these treasures can be challenging.
Just by the style, I believe the sensational cover art is by legendary cover artist Robert Maguire
The above back cover blurb says it all.
In The Shadows is from the paperback genre often referred to as the "sleazy pulps", but really they were just noir-ish melodramas peppered with some racy sex scenes.
I have a huge addiction to these vintage paperback pulps. Originally I began collecting them for the knockout, colorful, sexy cover art. But many of these books are just as enticing between the covers. They were often well written, engaging stories penned by authors well versed in the mechanics of how to tell a good story. Due to the social constraints of the time, the writers were forced to be quite creative in their phrasing of sex scenes and even sexual thoughts. The results were often hilarious and always entertaining.
This particular book was part of the "Lesbian Pulp" sub genre of the sleazy pulps, paperbacks that were marketed to titillate heterosexual males but were also secretly read by gay women at the time.
In The Shadows was written by the superbly talented and prolific Joan Ellis (Julie Ellis today), one of the best vintage pulp writers. A solid story with a well developed tormented main character, it is a fast entertaining read, but not one of Joan Ellis's best. Ellis always seemed to do her best writing when dealing in another pulp sub-genre, the teenage dramas.
Still, there is a great Mad Men type feel to this story. It takes place in NYC in the 1960's and the main character Elaine is a high powered advertising executive competing in a chauvinistic world where she is hiding a forbidden secret as her world begins to crumbles around her.
Thanks to Digital Vintage Pulps this book has been restored and made available on Kindle, which is great news since tracking down readable (and affordable) copies of these treasures can be challenging.
Just by the style, I believe the sensational cover art is by legendary cover artist Robert Maguire
August 11, 2024
I’m participating in The Queer Liberation Library’s Mega Queer Summer Reading Bingo, and one of the squares is queer pulp fiction. The cover of In the Shadows is incredible and the blurb sounded interesting, but I was deceived!
This is less a book about a passionate affair as the blurb suggests, and more a book about desire, self-hatred, and repeated SA by horny men of the 1960s who didn’t understand how a woman could possibly be single. And while that’s alright, I wish there had also been more (or any) of what the blurb promised, especially since the story that was there fell really flat for me.
Despite the fact that I didn’t like the book itself, it was interesting to read and think about the wide variety of queer books we have freely available now (Well, for the most part. Looking at you, book bans). We have access to way more books that are written by people who can provide an accurate portrayal of the queer experience than ever before, and the number is only growing. And books with with queer people in them aren’t always strictly about the queer experience - they often just exist as regular characters in a story about whatever. Reading In the Shadows was like exploring a part of history that provided a great reminder of how far we’ve come in the book space and it made me feel proud.
Anyway. That’s it. I’m just feeling really happy about so many books that exist 😊
Oh wait, that’s not it actually. I forgot to mention that the digitized version is full of errors. There are grammatical errors as well as straight up typos, like “fife” instead of “life” for example, and there were many more I didn’t bother taking note of.
This is less a book about a passionate affair as the blurb suggests, and more a book about desire, self-hatred, and repeated SA by horny men of the 1960s who didn’t understand how a woman could possibly be single. And while that’s alright, I wish there had also been more (or any) of what the blurb promised, especially since the story that was there fell really flat for me.
Despite the fact that I didn’t like the book itself, it was interesting to read and think about the wide variety of queer books we have freely available now (Well, for the most part. Looking at you, book bans). We have access to way more books that are written by people who can provide an accurate portrayal of the queer experience than ever before, and the number is only growing. And books with with queer people in them aren’t always strictly about the queer experience - they often just exist as regular characters in a story about whatever. Reading In the Shadows was like exploring a part of history that provided a great reminder of how far we’ve come in the book space and it made me feel proud.
Anyway. That’s it. I’m just feeling really happy about so many books that exist 😊
Oh wait, that’s not it actually. I forgot to mention that the digitized version is full of errors. There are grammatical errors as well as straight up typos, like “fife” instead of “life” for example, and there were many more I didn’t bother taking note of.
June 24, 2012
"She Couldn't Keep Her Hands Off Her Brother's Wife"
The above back cover blurb says it all.
"In The Shadows" is "Mad Men" meets "Pulp Fiction". It is from the paperback genre often referred to as the "sleazy pulps", but really they were just noir-ish melodramas peppered with some racy sex scenes.
I have a huge addiction to these vintage paperback pulps. Originally I began collecting them for the knockout, colorful, sexy cover art. But many of these books are just as enticing between the covers. They were often expertly crafted, engaging stories penned by authors well versed in the mechanics of how to tell a good story. Due to the social constraints of the time, the writers were forced to be quite creative in their phrasing of sex scenes and even sexual thoughts. The results were often hilarious and always entertaining.
This particular book was part of the "Lesbian Pulp" sub genre of the sleazy pulps, paperbacks that were marketed to titillate heterosexual males but were also secretly read by gay women at the time.
In The Shadows was written by the superbly talented and prolific Joan Ellis (Julie Ellis today), one of the best vintage pulp writers. A solid story with a well developed tormented main character, it is a fast entertaining read, but not one of Joan Ellis's best. Ellis always seemed to do her best writing when working in another pulp sub-genre, the teenage dramas.
Still, there is a great "Mad Men" type feel to this story. Like many of the Midwood pulps, it takes place in NYC in the 1960's and the main character Elaine is a high powered advertising executive competing in a chauvinistic world where she is hiding a forbidden secret as her world begins to crumbles around her.
Thanks to Digital Vintage Pulps this book has been restored and made available on Kindle, which is great news since tracking down readable (and affordable) copies of these treasures can be challenging.
Just by the style, I believe the sensational cover art is by legendary cover artist Robert Maguire(less)
The above back cover blurb says it all.
"In The Shadows" is "Mad Men" meets "Pulp Fiction". It is from the paperback genre often referred to as the "sleazy pulps", but really they were just noir-ish melodramas peppered with some racy sex scenes.
I have a huge addiction to these vintage paperback pulps. Originally I began collecting them for the knockout, colorful, sexy cover art. But many of these books are just as enticing between the covers. They were often expertly crafted, engaging stories penned by authors well versed in the mechanics of how to tell a good story. Due to the social constraints of the time, the writers were forced to be quite creative in their phrasing of sex scenes and even sexual thoughts. The results were often hilarious and always entertaining.
This particular book was part of the "Lesbian Pulp" sub genre of the sleazy pulps, paperbacks that were marketed to titillate heterosexual males but were also secretly read by gay women at the time.
In The Shadows was written by the superbly talented and prolific Joan Ellis (Julie Ellis today), one of the best vintage pulp writers. A solid story with a well developed tormented main character, it is a fast entertaining read, but not one of Joan Ellis's best. Ellis always seemed to do her best writing when working in another pulp sub-genre, the teenage dramas.
Still, there is a great "Mad Men" type feel to this story. Like many of the Midwood pulps, it takes place in NYC in the 1960's and the main character Elaine is a high powered advertising executive competing in a chauvinistic world where she is hiding a forbidden secret as her world begins to crumbles around her.
Thanks to Digital Vintage Pulps this book has been restored and made available on Kindle, which is great news since tracking down readable (and affordable) copies of these treasures can be challenging.
Just by the style, I believe the sensational cover art is by legendary cover artist Robert Maguire(less)
October 14, 2017
I am not sure if this book was really written by a woman because I doubt the authenticity of the description of the main character as a female persona. For instance which lesbian will rent 3 apartments simultaneously just because she is hiding her sexual preference? Secondly, her conversation on sleeping with men seemed to me pretensious. So while this book may have been entertaining it also seems to insulting to me because the writer seems to not have a genuine clue to how a lesbian will act in the midst of the circumstances potrayed.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews