Twilight girl

Twilight girl

Lorraine ‘Lon’ Harris explores the Los Angeles lesbian bar scene.

A paperback original. This book was published as a mass-market paperback without a hardcover printing.

156 pages

18 cm

"Twilight Girl by Della M." Ladder, vol. 5, no. 11, August 1961, p. 23.

An unusual intuitive book. the confused Lon, so like the average teenage lesbian; Mavis, the unforgettable Negro girl Lon loves, who spouts philosophy in an alternately cultured voice and "Wassa" talk, are excellent. The discussion of Renee Vivien and the translation of one of her sonnets are well worth the price of the book.

Littauer, Amanda H. Bad Girls : Young Women, Sex, and Rebellion Before the Sixties. The University of North Carolina Press, 2015

"It was only necessary to read 50 pages to find a good sampling of offensive passages wgich [sic] were indicative of the tone of the book.
Pure filth- a story of lesbianism."

"Portrays sex facts offensively and the use of blasphemous and obscene speech repeatedly. In fact too often to even dog-ear the pages.
JK. Lesbianism, also #6."

Contested in the U.S.A and Canada by the South Side Committee. It was listed in the NODL Newsletter from 5/1/61 until October 1961, and then again from 4/26/67 until July 1968 when the title was reissued in 1967.

"Lorraine was 'different'--but was she bad? The savage story of a pretty teen-ager enticed into forbidden practices by older girls! We sincerely believe this the finest novel ever to treat of the third sex"--Cover

Yes, there are such girls . . .
. . . . It's no secret. The subject is no longer taboo. Lesbianism today is discussed freely no only by physicians, social workers and teachers, but by all responsible people shocked by its rapid spread. For unless the blight is understood, it cannot be curbed. With unprecedented frankness, this sensitive novel seeks the requisite insights . . .

here is the story not of the older, harder type of twilight woman, but of an innocent high school girl, Lorraine Harris. She is first led into perverse practices by Violet, a pretty blonde carhop. Then Lorraine is pulled ever more deeply into tainted live by such as Sassy Gregg, a wealthy seeker of twisted "kicks" - and by Mavis, wonderful Mavis, who becomes Lorraine's "wife". At the last, Lorraine is the confused victim of her own contaminated passions . . .

Are Lorraine and her friends, just bad girls - or are they emotionally disturbed girls? For new answers, and brilliant delineation of the origins of aberration, this book should be read by everyone bent on combating the lesbian contagion.

Over a red, textured background, a bed with white sheets is placed sideways to the reader, at the bottom of the image. A pillow is placed on it, to the right of the reader. A blond woman with short, curly hair sits on the bed facing the reader, her body at a three-quarter angle facing right. Her legs are crossed under the knees and are at a diagonal angle, bare feet pointing out toward the left of the image. She wears a white slip and a white, strapless brassiere. Her right hand is placed over her chest as she leans on her left arm, which stretches out toward the pillow. Her head is slightly tilted to her right, and she looks down with a serious expression on her face. Behind the bed stands a brunette with short hair and bangs, to the far right of the image. She is wearing a black negligee and stands at a three-quarter angle facing left of the image. Her right arm is bent at the elbow; forearm placed over her stomach. Her left arm is also bent, elbow on her right hand stretched-out fingers, and a cigarette is lit in her hand, fingers bent and pointing upwards. She is looking down at the blonde with a stern expression, head raised slightly. The scene is lit from the top left, casting a shadow to the side of the bed facing the reader.