I am a woman

I am a woman

Laura explores gay life in 1950s New York.

224 pages

18 cm

Laura and Beebo meet in a Greenwich Village bar

Strang, Lennox. "I am a Woman" Ladder, vol. 4, no. 7, April 1960, p. 18.

In March, 1957, Ann Bannon's first novel, Odd Girl Out was published. The heroine of the book, Laura Landon, discovers her lesbianism, has an affair with her roommate and in the end, realizing that lesbianism is right for her but not her roommate, she says: "I'll live my life as honestly as I can."

I am a Woman tells the story of Laura's flight to New York City, her transference of her love for Beth (her former roommate) to Marcie, who is normal, and finally how she meets and falls in love with the very handsome, very gay, Beebo.

As a secondary theme, there is Laura's friendship with Jack, a gay boy, and his lover, Terry. (Their affair is happy, also).

The book is very realistic. The writing is excellent for a paperback, and the ending is so very happy that it sets the book almost in a class by itself. The author is sympathetic throughout, but she pulls no punches. She definitely realizes the drawbacks as well as the advantages.

"I would say that this is probably the most offensive and disgusting book I've ever seen.
Not only does it go into minute detail in describing the activities of homosexuals but the whole tone of the book is one of justification of those 'poor unfortunate creatures' in seeking what happiness they can find in unnatural acts.
I've marked some of the worst passages, but actually the whole book is one long mess of garbage- unfortunately, well written, with the characters very well- and sympathetically- drawn.
To my mind, this is the most damaging type of book for young readers."

Contested in the U.S.A and Canada by the National Organization for Decent Literature.

I am a woman in love with another woman. Must society reject me? Ann Bannon Author of "Odd Girl Out" ~ Front cover

NEW WORLD. Home to Laura was not an apartment of a house with a fashionable dress. Home was a dimly lit and badly ventilated bar on a back street in Greenwich Village. She understood the language there, she understood the customs. Only forbidden desires were recognized and love rarely lasted more than a night. The tormented and lost women met there, and Laura, slim and boyish, found happiness for the first time in her life. -Back cover

The image is occupied fully by the bust and head of a brunette with dark eyes. She stands as if at a lower level than the reader, oriented at a three-quarter angle toward the left of the reader, her back to the right of the image. Her hair is straight and flipped in above her shoulders, and parted to the side. She is wearing a black brassiere, her cleavage exposed. She looks toward the reader with a serious expression on her face. The scene is lit from the top-left of the image with what looks like natural light.