Two unforgettable classics from the golden age of pulp fiction! Before there was gay fiction exhibited proudly and openly on the shelves, there was the world of Paula Christian. In her novels, women experience sex, romance, realtionships, experimentation, denial, courage, and ultimately, a richer understanding of themselves. Now, in these two classic novels, two very different women explore their sexuality and search for love on their own terms. ‘Amanda’: Evelyn Rawlins is very much her own woman, with a New York City apartment, an active social life, sex when she wants it, and a career writing lesbian novels under an assumed name. Just because she’s straight doesn’t mean she can’t write about gay life. After all, she has plenty of gay friends. And when young housewife and aspiring novelist Amanda Richardson writes to Ev, asking for help on her own novel, well why not help the girl out? Then Amanda – seductive, charming, cunning Amanda – comes to stay for ten days and turns Evelyn’s well-ordered life inside out… ‘The Other Side of Desire’: Carrie Richardson is one of the ‘invisible women’ of suburban New York, spending her days in a mind-numbing routine of childcare and household duties, deferring to her husband’s wishes and conforming to the norms of the hypocritical country club set. What no-one knows is how restless Carrie feels, trying to fit in and forget her secret past. But then along comes free-spirited, wild, rebellious Kim, and the tight cover Carrie has kept on her heart, her soul, and her sexuality is about to blow sky high…
Genre: Pulp
Subjects: Closeted gays; Fiction / General; Fiction / Lesbian; Lesbianism in literature; Lesbians; Lesbians - Fiction; Lesbians -- Identity -- Fiction; Lesbians -- Interpersonal relations -- Fiction; Lesbians -- Relations with men -- Fiction; Lesbians -- Sexuality -- Fiction; Relationships
Publication History
| Copyright Date | 1965 |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | August 1965 |
| Publisher | Paperback Library |
| Format | Mass Market Paperback |
| No. of Pages | 157 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | Paperback Library 52-833 A* rating in Grier |
| Rating | Good |
| Copyright Date | 1965 |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | 1967 |
| Publisher | Castle Books |
| Format | Mass Market Paperback |
| No. of Pages | 158 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | A* rating in Grier |
| Rating | Good |
| ISBN | 9780931328084 |
|---|---|
| Copyright Date | 1965 |
| Publication Date | March 1981 |
| Publisher | Timely Books |
| Format | Trade Paperback |
| No. of Pages | 157 |
| Language | English |
| Rating | Not Rated |
| ISBN | 9780931328084 |
|---|---|
| Copyright Date | 1965 |
| Publication Date | March 1, 1981 |
| Publisher | Timely Books |
| Format | Trade Paperback |
| No. of Pages | 157 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | A* rating in Grier |
| Rating | Good |
| ISBN | 0758203152 |
|---|---|
| Copyright Date | 2004 |
| Publication Date | November 1, 2004 |
| Publisher | Kensington |
| Format | Trade Paperback |
| No. of Pages | 304 |
| Language | English |
| Notes | 'Amanda' copyright 1965 'The Other Side Of Desire' copyright 1965 |
| Rating | Not Rated |
Comment
The Other Side of Desire was published as a paperback original by Paperback Library in 1965. Carrie, a beautiful married woman who once had passionate affairs with women, wants a more conventional life, but she finds the old desire harder to set aside than she had hoped. Paula Christian, the pen name of Yvonne MacManus, was one of the small group of women who wrote lesbian paperback originals in the 1950s and 1960s, beginning with Edge of Twilight (1959), and in 1966 Gene Damon (Barbara Grier) named her with Valerie Taylor and Ann Bannon as the writers of the era most likely to be remembered.
In the same survey of the paperback era, Damon judged both of Christian's 1965 novels, this one and Amanda, to be well below her usual standard, though Grier's The Lesbian in Literature listed it with an A rating for its lesbian content. In 1981 Timely Books reissued it in a single volume with Amanda, as two stories of married women who discover love with other women.