CREEP INTO THY NARROW BED By Leonard Bishop Dial Press 1954

Since stark realism, undistorted by sentimentality, bitterness or preaching is the special forte of this author, whatever his subject, perhaps it should not come as a surprise that he is able to handle the lesbian theme in the same objective, matter-of-fact manner. Nevertheless, after the reams of morbid nonsense that have been written about this subject, it is both surprising and refreshing to find a fictional account of lesbianism that bears some resemblance to actuality. The primary theme of "Creep Into Thy Narrow Bed" is the abortion racket, and a real shocker it is, but it is with the secondary theme, the story of Patricia Michaels, sister of Adam, the protagonist of the novel, that we will concern ourselves here.

In Pat, we have a lesbian who is neither depraved, vicious, neurotic, bitter, cynical, morbid nor given to wallowing in self-pity. Except for the one small "twist" in her nature (as she calls it) she is simply a normal, decent kid trying to live a normal, decent life, a task made somewhat more difficult by her "twist," but by no means impossible. In the beginning, when she tries to seduce a latent male homosexual (unsuccessfully) in an effort to determine whether either of them are capable of a heterosexual relationship, and shorty thereafter when she initiates her first homosexual affair with a roommate as a combination test, experiment and conviction that she must begin somewhere, she is perhaps a trifle too detached and objective to be believable for one so young and inexperienced, but thereafter her actions and reaction are remarkably authentic. For her first love affair she is fortunate to find Linda, a young sculptress, who, like herself, does not believe a decent, productive life is impossible for the homosexual. Linda is far more sophisticated and worldly-wise than the inexperienced Pat and her knowledge

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and realism are of enormous help to the girl who has yet to learn all that being a lesbian in a hostile society involves. Pat is introduced to the extreme "types" of gay society, so dear to the heart of the fiction writer; without catastrophic results she manages to reconcile herself to the fact that not everyone will knowingly accept a lesbian as a human being without turning anti-social or committing suicide, she neither glamorizes, despises nor pities herself-in short, she behaves much as any reasonably intelligent, selfrespecting citizen does when faced with his own unique set of problems. And she and Linda succeed in building their relationship into something very strong and fine-an unheard of accomplishment in fiction dealing with homosexuals heretofore.

But, welcome though a fair treatment of the lesbian theme is, the real value of this book lies in the fact that it is coupled with a real moral horror such as the abortion racket. No matter how strongly prejudiced he may be, no person reading this book will be able to avoid making moral comparisons, and it will be an obtuse individual indeed who does not conclude that human degradation is in no way dependent upon sexual preference. A most telling blow is struck when Adam, a moral weakling whose activities would have revolted a Borgia, discovers his sister is a lesbian. His furious outrage and shame (of all things!) would be laughable were they not so plausible. And I do not believe that there are many readers who will be proud of sharing an attitude of Adam Michaels'.

It is rather startling that the first unbiased and fairly accurate treatment of the lesbian theme should be written by a man, but perhaps that is the very reason a fair and objective treatment was possible. He had no ax to grind. —Marlin Prentiss

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