Women In The Shadow (Mills & Boon Spice): First edition

The classic 1950s love story from the Queen of Lesbian Pulp Fiction, and author of Odd Girl Out, I Am a Woman, Women in the Shadows, Journey to a Woman and Beebo Brinker

A guarded look across the room was all she dared—and this was Greenwich Village where almost anything goes…

Following on from classic novels Odd Girl Out and I am a Woman, Women in the Shadows picks up with Beebo’s relationship with Laura, as both women become caught in the cultural tumult (gay bar raids, heavy drinking, gay rights advocacy) that anticipates by ten years the Stonewall Rebellion of 1969. New introduction explains the book’s evolution, including the role Bannon’s divorce played in shaping the lesbian protagonist’s outrage.

New Introduction by Ann Bannon

“Originally published in 1959, Women in the Shadows broke from the formula of 1950s lesbian pulp fiction. The women in this novel were tied to convention, but they were still ahead of their time. In its proper historical context, Women in the Shadows is a masterpiece” Hélène Cixous

Praise for Ann Bannon

“Bannon’s books grab you and don’t let go” Village Voice

“When I was young, Bannon’s books let me imagine myself into her New York City neighborhoods of short-haired, dark-eyed butch women and stubborn, tight-lipped secretaries with hearts ready to be broken. Her books come close to the kind of books that had made me feel fatalistic and damned in my youth, but somehow she just managed to sustain a sense of hope. And of course, there was her romantic portrait of the kind of butch woman I idealized. I would have dated Beebo, no question” Dorothy Allison

“Called trash by the literary world and pornography by the commercial world, Ann Bannon’s books were hidden away on drugstore pulp racks. To pick out the book, carry it to the counter and face the other shoppers and the cashier was tantamount to coming out. But all across the country, lesbians were doing it” Joan Nestle

“Little did Bannon know that her stories would become legends, inspiring countless fledgling dykes to flock to the Village, dog-eared copies of her books in hand, to find their own Beebos and Lauras and others who shared the love they dared not name” San Francisco Bay Guardian

“Ann Bannon is a pioneer of dyke drama” On Our Backs

“Shameless tales of wanton dyke lust are finally unveiled!” Out magazine