The Raid

by Lee Lynch

Before Stonewall, having a drink with friends or your girl could mean jail.

In 1961, The Old Town Tavern is more than just a gay bar. It’s a home to strangers who have become family. Murph, the dapper unschooled storyteller. Rockie Solomon, the gentle, generous observer. Lisa Jelane, in all her lonely dignity. Gorgeous Paul, so fragile, and his twin (straight?) sister Cissy. Deej, the angry innocent. Norman, plump and queenly lover of a college professor who’s happiest in schoolmarm drag. Harry Van Epps, police officer, and old Dr. Everett, “family” physician. They drink, they dance, they fall in lust and in love. They don’t even know who the enemy is, only that it is powerful enough to order the all-too-willing vice squad to destroy the bar and their lives.

Would these women and men still have family, a job, a place to live after…The Raid?

This was how it was done then, this was the gay life, and this is the resilient gay will.

264 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2012

About the author

Lee Lynch published her first lesbian fiction in “The Ladder” in the 1960s. Naiad Press issued Toothpick House, Old Dyke Tales, and more. Her novel The Swashbuckler was presented in NYC as a play scripted by Sarah Schulman. New Victoria Publishers brought out Rafferty Street, the last book of Lynch’s Morton River Valley Trilogy. Her backlist is becoming available in electronic format from Bold Strokes Books. Her newest novels are Beggar of Love and The Raid from Bold Strokes. Her recent short stories can be found in Romantic Interludes (Bold Strokes Books), Women In Uniform (Regal Crest) and at www.readtheselips.com. Her reviews and feature articles have appeared in such publications as “The San Francisco Chronicle,” “The Advocate” and “The Lambda Book Report.” Lynch’s syndicated column, “The Amazon Trail,” runs in venues such as boldstrokesbooks.com, justaboutwrite.com, “Letters From Camp Rehoboth,” and “On Top Magazine.”

Lee Lynch was honored by the Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) as the first recipient (for The Swashbuckler) and namesake of The Lee Lynch Classics Award, which will honor outstanding works in Lesbian Fiction published before awards and honors were given. She also is a recipient of the Alice B. Reader Award for Lesbian Fiction, the James Duggins Mid-Career Author Award, which honors LGBT mid-career novelists of extraordinary talent and service to the LGBT community, and was inducted into the Saints and Sinners Literary Hall of Fame. In 2010 Beggar of Love received the GCLS Ann Bannon Readers’ Choice Award and the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Bronze Award in Gay/Lesbian Fiction. She has twice been nominated for Lambda Literary Awards and her novel Sweet Creek (Bold Strokes Books) was a GCLS award finalist.

She lives in rural Florida with her wife.

Reviews

[Dawn Bellville · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a poignant tale of the trials and comradery of the times from our not so distant past. While at times saddened beyond consolation by the story, there is also a great underlying theme of strength and perseverance and, beyond that...endurance of survival. I would encourage everyone I know to pick it up. You will be touched by the women inside these pages...written by an amazing storyteller.

[Baxter Clare Trautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking and inspiring, a lesbian/gay "Cheers" set in the not so cheerful early 60s.

[Sally Bellerose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical drama with compelling characters written by a true trailblazer.

[Debra Hyde · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tale that grew richer with every page turn. It deserves to become a classic of lesbian and queer literature.