Stranger on Lesbos

Stranger on Lesbos

This book is part of a series.
Stranger on Lesbos (1960) – Frances Ollenfield is introduced
A World Without Men (1963) – Erika Frohmann is introduced
Return to Lesbos (1963) – Erika and Frances meet
Journey to Fullfillment (1964) - Erika's backstory. The novel recounts her arrival in the United States after she was liberated from a concentration camp at the end of the Second World War.
Ripening (1988) - Erika and Frances are growing old and coming out. The final book in the series is not considered lesbian pulp fiction due to its date of publication.

144 pages

18 cm

Frances and Bake meet in a literature course.

Damon, Gene. "Stranger on Lesbos." Ladder, vol. 4, no. 8, May 1960, p. 10-11.

Frances, 35-year-old wife and mother, feels ignored and deserted. She enrolls in a University of Chicago Literature course to alleviate her boredom. She meets the highly attractive Mary Baker, a TV executives in her late twenties working for an M.A. degree in her spare time. For the first half of the book the author delineates a convincing relationship between the two women, and some of the passages are surprisingly well written for a paperback. The last half of the book is the usual stereotyped paperback novel which end with Frances in her husband’s arms. Recommended for the “Gale Wilhelm” style in the early parts of the love affair.

Hermes, Joke. "Sexuality in Lesbian Romance Fiction." Feminist Review Vol. 42, 1992, pp. 49-66.

"We, as parents, are aware of a homosexual. Yet I faith to see the advantage to my teenagers to read the details of their way of life and personal contact. As adults they will be more able to absorb the reasons why this happens- and better able to realize it is not good in any form. These people are ill and need help."

"This book is nothing but trash."

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

The searching novel of a lonely young wife faced with the temptations of unnatural love.

Frances had been left alone too often. Bill's occupation with business, his insensitivity, his indifference had drained their marriage of meaning and warmth. Yet, it never occurred to her to think of divorce – or to have an affair with another man. It was easier to shut herself off from all desire, all feeling. It was like being dead… but it was safe. Now, Bake – with her dark, knowing eyes, her young body, so alive, so full of passion and hunger, had changed all that.

Stranger on Lesbos front cover. A blonde is seen, at a three-quarter angle with her back to the reader, towards the left, facing left of the cover. Her hair is partly undone, partially covering the back of her neck. She has bangs above her eyebrows. Her back is almost entirely exposed, a white lace blouse hanging beneath her shoulders, revealing the straps and back of her brassiere. She has her head bowed down halfway, and her eyes are closed. Her left hand touches her right cheek, and her right hand can be partially seen tucked under her left, folded arm. She wears what seem to be a black skirt. In front of her, to the left of the image, several garments can be seen hanging disorderly on a rack. To her right, a dresser with a mirror also displays several clothes sticking out from its drawers in a disordered fashion. A few objects lay on top of the dresser, including a book. The background is a texture of reds and oranges that range in tone. The scene is lit from the top left. The image is inserted inside a line frame that is curved at the bottom corners. Above the image, and over white, the title, author's name and descriptions are displayed in black and red type.