LESBIANA

BY GENE DAMON

158. THE RAINS CAME BY LOUIS BROMFIELD. P.F. COLLIER, 1957 (HARPER)

THIS NOVEL IS NEARLY A MODERN CLASSIC. BASICALLY IT TELLS THE DETAILED LIVES OF ENGLISHMEN AND WOMEN IN INDIA JUST BEFORE AN EARTHQUAKE AND RAIN WHICH KILLS MANY OF THEM. QUITE A LITTLE SPACE IS DEVOTED TO THE LIFE STORY OF AN ELDERLY COUPLE, MISSES ELIZABETH HODGE AND SARAH KIRKS, WHO HAD BEEN DISMISSED ON LESBIAN CHARGES YEARS BEFORE IN ENGLAND. THEY CAME TO INDIA AND SUCCESSFULLY OPERATED AN INDIAN SCHOOL. THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS MADE EXCEEDINGLY CLEAR AND IS HANDLED WITH BOTH SYMPATHY AND GOOD TASTE.

159. THE ROCK POOL BY CYRIL CONNOLY. SCRIBNER, 1936. (REPRINTED BY NEW DIRECTIONS)

POETIC, WELL-WRITTEN NOVEL BY A DISTINGUISHED ENGLISH AUTHOR AND CRITIC. THE LIFE, MORALS AND LOVE AFFAIRS OF A GROUP OF AMERICAN AND ENGLISH EXPATRIATES IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE IN THE LATE 1920'S. THE CAST OF CHARACTERS IS ALMOST WHOLLY LESBIAN, WITH ONE OR TWO MALE HOMOSEXUALS FOR SEASONING. EVEN THE ONE OR TWO PEOPLE WHO MAKE A PRETEXT OF HETEROSEXUALITY ARE QUITE BISEXUAL. NOT WHOLLY LIKEABLE PEOPLE, BUT VERY HONEST AND VERY INTERESTING.

'160. THE SENSUALISTS BY BEN HECHT. MESSNER, 1959. (ALSO PAPERBACK )

TREMENDOUS ADVANCE PUBLICITY SOLD THIS BOOK AS A SENSATIONAL ITEM. IT HAS A NUMBER OF MURDERS, A SUICIDE AND A HIGHLY INVOLVED PLOT IN A SOMEWHAT ARTIFICIAL MANNER. DESPITE ALL THIS COVER-UP THE BOOK IS ALMOST ENTIRELY BUILT AROUND THE FOLLOWING STORY. ANN LAWRENCE HAS A SUPERFICIALLY HAPPY MARRIAGE, AND DISCOVERS HER HUSBAND HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH A SEXY NIGHT CLUB SINGER, LIZA KING. DUE TO PLOT COMPLICATIONS

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