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Twilight Girl
The swaggering butches and dolled-up femmes of this 1961 lesbian pulp novel experience the guilt, thrills, and wonder of forbidden love.
“She knew why they danced with such gay desperation.”
A budding butch in the Brylcreem era, Lorraine “Lon” Harris fantasizes about a South Pacific island full of women, where everyone will be free and accepting, and she’ll never have to wear an eyelet blouse again. Spurned by her high school English teacher, Lon turns to a new friend, the brash, purple-haired Violet, who draws Lon into the lesbian underworld of suburban Los Angeles, to the sordid 28 Percent Club, a private bar where those with “contaminated passions” cling to each other. Here, among the swaggering butches and dolled-up femmes, Lon will discover herself. And here she will first lay eyes on brilliant, lovely Mavis, a black jazz pianist and the girlfriend of wealthy Sassy Gregg, whose heavy bracelets may as well be brass knuckles where Lon is concerned.
“She knew why they danced with such gay desperation.”
A budding butch in the Brylcreem era, Lorraine “Lon” Harris fantasizes about a South Pacific island full of women, where everyone will be free and accepting, and she’ll never have to wear an eyelet blouse again. Spurned by her high school English teacher, Lon turns to a new friend, the brash, purple-haired Violet, who draws Lon into the lesbian underworld of suburban Los Angeles, to the sordid 28 Percent Club, a private bar where those with “contaminated passions” cling to each other. Here, among the swaggering butches and dolled-up femmes, Lon will discover herself. And here she will first lay eyes on brilliant, lovely Mavis, a black jazz pianist and the girlfriend of wealthy Sassy Gregg, whose heavy bracelets may as well be brass knuckles where Lon is concerned.
156 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 1960
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 13, 2008
Re-issue of 1960's lesbian pulp paperback brought to you by Cleis Press from San Francisco. "Twilight Girl" has a great plot summary listed on the back that promises more than it delivers.
Somewhere in this novel there's a tale of a teenage girl who daydreams of having her own all-girl love island. One night she goes to a drive-in burger stand (no Fonzie) and gets a crush on a carhop with dyed violet hair, named "Violet".
Violet takes her to the local dyke bar and introduces her to
a vicious, spoiled rich girl who Violet has a crush on. The rich girl ("Sassy") is in love with a black jazz pianist, who acts Uncle Tom-ish to keep up appearances at Sassy's house in Beverly Hills as a phony maid.
I don't know if I can go much further. The book just gets in over its head, and the payoff is pretty short. I wasn't expecting tons of sex, just a couple of loose ends to be tied up, and the writer didn't deliver. After I read this I reached for my mouthwash. Nevertheless, if you don't demand much from a book other than a couple of chuckles this book is worth a spin.
Somewhere in this novel there's a tale of a teenage girl who daydreams of having her own all-girl love island. One night she goes to a drive-in burger stand (no Fonzie) and gets a crush on a carhop with dyed violet hair, named "Violet".
Violet takes her to the local dyke bar and introduces her to
a vicious, spoiled rich girl who Violet has a crush on. The rich girl ("Sassy") is in love with a black jazz pianist, who acts Uncle Tom-ish to keep up appearances at Sassy's house in Beverly Hills as a phony maid.
I don't know if I can go much further. The book just gets in over its head, and the payoff is pretty short. I wasn't expecting tons of sex, just a couple of loose ends to be tied up, and the writer didn't deliver. After I read this I reached for my mouthwash. Nevertheless, if you don't demand much from a book other than a couple of chuckles this book is worth a spin.
January 22, 2017
As my first foray into mid-century lesbian pulp fiction, this was a fascinating read! I didn't expect it to depict an interracial romance -- or to do so with what I thought was a reasonable amount of nuance. The ending felt rushed and somewhat sensational, but perhaps that's to be expected given the genre.
March 28, 2021
I...what did I just read?
Twilight Girl is pulp fiction dating back to the early 60s, which makes it...something. Something odd. It's this strange conglomeration of progressiveness (as far as the 60s go) and self-aware racial stereotyping (that is: the one Black character in the book routinely drops into a drawl of stereotypical Black southern grammar in order to mock white characters when they're being ignorant, which is...often) and racism (from white characters, but also in the way the Black character's body, and only her body, is described in lush detail) and stereotypical butch-femme dynamics and...I don't even know. I read recently that lesbian pulp novels of the era tended to end badly, so I had that in mind going into this.
I'd love to know more about the author—was this actually a man? Because at one point one of the character's breasts are described as 'snobbish', and...that sounds like a man is writing, no?
Note to self: no more gay 60s pulp, thanks.
Twilight Girl is pulp fiction dating back to the early 60s, which makes it...something. Something odd. It's this strange conglomeration of progressiveness (as far as the 60s go) and self-aware racial stereotyping (that is: the one Black character in the book routinely drops into a drawl of stereotypical Black southern grammar in order to mock white characters when they're being ignorant, which is...often) and racism (from white characters, but also in the way the Black character's body, and only her body, is described in lush detail) and stereotypical butch-femme dynamics and...I don't even know. I read recently that lesbian pulp novels of the era tended to end badly, so I had that in mind going into this.
I'd love to know more about the author—was this actually a man? Because at one point one of the character's breasts are described as 'snobbish', and...that sounds like a man is writing, no?
Note to self: no more gay 60s pulp, thanks.
Read
September 5, 2019Progressive for the 60's (for some reason I thought it was more modern and about a past time period), regressive for today.
Evil dead lesbians.
Evil dead lesbians.
June 2, 2024
A product of its time.
November 11, 2012
Up until the last twenty pages or so this was one of the best lesbian pulps I'd read. But then it kinda went all soap opera and dramatic. But until then I liked it a lot. The writing style I thought was the most developed of any of the pulps I read. It was like they were trying to imitate a more beat style. The characters were more interesting than usual as well. Instead of lesbian's who were very much normal girls with issues. The women in this book were all outsiders. There was violet who dyed her hair purple and was a terrible flirt. Mavis who was a black jazz piano player who'd temporarily given up her job and was living with a rich white girl pretending to be her made. She had very interesting thoughts on racism, classism, talked about poetry and philiosophy and wanted to be a beatnik. The rich character who had the token fiancée turned out to be sleeping with token fiance, which pleased her parents because it meant that she wasn't a lesbian, but the scenes with her having sex with him were really harrowing to read. She was also developing a rather serious junk habit. There was a lot more going on in the story than just unrequited teen romance. In a way I suppose that's why the ending had to be more dramatic but it also felt more forced. Everything had to end badly for everyone. It would have been nicer if it had stayed with a more realistic setting throughout.
While so many pulps seem to be set in sororities it was nice to read about a scene that was close to the one today. Even though it was purely a butch/femme scene the bars and parties seemed familiar. One bar that accepted all types, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trannies reminded me totally of the rebar crowd (except in the book it they were all much better off). Despite ending up with the main character going insane the book did a good job of making fun and questioning the psychopathologising of gay people. It was also nice to read a book that talked about lesbian poets in other languages and acknowledged some of the history rather than existing in a vacuum.
I did really love it. Which was nice as the past couple pulps I've read have been a bit disappointing. I borrowed this from the library but when I was only 40 pages in I went and bought my own copy from amazon. I will definitely read it again. I hope the author wrote other books
While so many pulps seem to be set in sororities it was nice to read about a scene that was close to the one today. Even though it was purely a butch/femme scene the bars and parties seemed familiar. One bar that accepted all types, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trannies reminded me totally of the rebar crowd (except in the book it they were all much better off). Despite ending up with the main character going insane the book did a good job of making fun and questioning the psychopathologising of gay people. It was also nice to read a book that talked about lesbian poets in other languages and acknowledged some of the history rather than existing in a vacuum.
I did really love it. Which was nice as the past couple pulps I've read have been a bit disappointing. I borrowed this from the library but when I was only 40 pages in I went and bought my own copy from amazon. I will definitely read it again. I hope the author wrote other books
July 19, 2016
Lon dreams of an island where she can be who she truly is and surround herself with like-minded women. But Lon hasn't quite figured out who she is when she meets Violet, a gay girl with purple hair (which was probably all the more shocking in the 1950s or 1960s). Violet takes her to a club, The 28%, where Lon meets a lot of gay girls, and she discovers that she's one, too. She caries on an affair with Violet, although Violet has her eyes on Sassy Gregg, and Lon meets Mavis, Sassy's girlfriend.
So, I can imagine that this book was crossing pretty much all of the boundaries when it was first published. Not only does it have oodles of gay girls in it, but Mavis, Lon's love, is black. The book itself is still quite readable to this day, although there are some seriously dated phrases in it, as well as incredibly dated attitudes towards women of color. Still, it was published in 1961, so that's rather expected.
Lon is a strange character. She's likable. Violet is rather two-dimensional, but I did like the looks into Sassy's head (she's a gay girl trying desperately not to be) and Mavis (who has been hurt, and badly, in her life).
Altogether, this book stands up rather well in the test of time, although it's seriously depressing.
So, I can imagine that this book was crossing pretty much all of the boundaries when it was first published. Not only does it have oodles of gay girls in it, but Mavis, Lon's love, is black. The book itself is still quite readable to this day, although there are some seriously dated phrases in it, as well as incredibly dated attitudes towards women of color. Still, it was published in 1961, so that's rather expected.
Lon is a strange character. She's likable. Violet is rather two-dimensional, but I did like the looks into Sassy's head (she's a gay girl trying desperately not to be) and Mavis (who has been hurt, and badly, in her life).
Altogether, this book stands up rather well in the test of time, although it's seriously depressing.
July 1, 2011
A necessary evil, this one. How could I call myself a queer studies scholar without reading some lesbian pulp fiction? In grad school, I blithely quoted sources that said before the publication of Annie on My Mind lesbian characters always ended tragically. I gave presentations to that effect, even, all without ever having read any such characters. I once was lame, but now I’m not.
These books, however, are a bit lame. I appreciate them as historical artifacts and signposts from another time and place. But as a modern reader, I was horrified. Lon commits a murder and goes insane. Why? Because she discovers her inner gay girl. Mavis ends up in jail. Why? Because she is openly gay. Sassy dies. Why? Because she tried to hide the fact that she was gay. On the upside, the romantic passions are described in detail and the characters are treated with relative respect…you know, until they either die or go insane.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the flowery and dramatic, yet realistic and unapologetic language. It’s not all hot and bothered, let’s get to the heavy petting. Nor is it strictly business with a veil pulled over the actual sex scenes. It’s somewhere in the middle with more than a little attention paid to the day-to-day lives and character development of the tragically destined lesbians. Dramatic, indeed.
Exhibit A: “It was only in the knowing that Mavis had gone that Lon Harris learned what it means to cry like an unloved child.”
Exhibit B: “Lon drove as one drives to meet destiny.”
These books, however, are a bit lame. I appreciate them as historical artifacts and signposts from another time and place. But as a modern reader, I was horrified. Lon commits a murder and goes insane. Why? Because she discovers her inner gay girl. Mavis ends up in jail. Why? Because she is openly gay. Sassy dies. Why? Because she tried to hide the fact that she was gay. On the upside, the romantic passions are described in detail and the characters are treated with relative respect…you know, until they either die or go insane.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the flowery and dramatic, yet realistic and unapologetic language. It’s not all hot and bothered, let’s get to the heavy petting. Nor is it strictly business with a veil pulled over the actual sex scenes. It’s somewhere in the middle with more than a little attention paid to the day-to-day lives and character development of the tragically destined lesbians. Dramatic, indeed.
Exhibit A: “It was only in the knowing that Mavis had gone that Lon Harris learned what it means to cry like an unloved child.”
Exhibit B: “Lon drove as one drives to meet destiny.”
May 20, 2016
I'm probably being unfair (it's just a pulp, after all), but I didn't care for this one. Weird class stuff, an interracial love story which was nice, but there were some other weird racial things going on. Possibly I just didn't like any of the characters.
May 11, 2016
Three quarters of an actual novel and one quarter required melodrama. But that being said, Del Martin shows some real style and substance with these characters. There are glimpses of the real world and real people beneath the paperback cover.
July 4, 2014
lesbian pulp novels hold a special place in my <3
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews