Spring fire

Spring fire

177 pages

18 cm

Abate, M. "From cold war lesbian pulp to contemporary young adult novels: Vin Packer’s Spring Fire, M. E. Kerr’s Deliver us from Evie, and Marijane Meaker’s fight against fifties homophobia." Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, Vol. 32 No. 3, 2007. pp 231-251.

"It delas [sic] with Lesbians [sic]. A very unhealthy book."

"Absolutely filthy- deals with Lesbianism [?] and although good triumphs over evil this is no book for young people." 

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

This book was listed in the U.S. Report of the House of Representatives Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials.

A story once told in whispers now frankly, honestly written

Two seated women occupy most of the visual space. The one on the left of the image is a blonde with short, curly hair who looks towards the left of the cover. She is wearing a black negligee and her legs are covered under what could be a sheet or blanket. She leans forward slightly, with her right arm visible. In front of her sits a brunette with hair to her shoulder, parted in the middle. She is wearing an orange negligee. A gold chain with a heart-shaped pendant hangs from her neck, and she is wearing a watch on her left wrist. Her left arm is bent at the elbow, the hand touching the elbow of her right, stretched arm, which is touching her right knee. Her head is turned to her left and her eyes are closed. She appears to be leaning slightly on the blonde's left shoulder. A closed door is seen to the right of the image, and the scene is lit from the front, slightly left.

Author Marijane Meaker on the reception of Spring Fire.

"[Spring Fire] was not aimed at any lesbian market, because there wasn’t any that we knew
about. I was just out of college. I was gay . . . it wasn’t a prurient book. . . . Tereska Torres
. . . wasn’t aiming [Women’s Barracks] at any market either—just telling her experiences the
best she could, as I was. We were amazed, floored, by the mail that poured in. That was the
first time anyone was aware of the gay audience out there."

Source: Eric Garber, ed., “Those Wonderful Lesbian Pulps: A Roundtable Discussion,” San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society Newsletter 4.4 (summer 1989)

Spring Fire sold more than 1.5 million copies in its first printing.