Spring Fire (1952)

At first I enjoyed the ridiculousness of the prose ( little Leda grew fast and fully and richly. She had long black hair that shone like new coal, round green eyes, a stubborn tilt to her chin, proud pear-shaped breasts that pointed through her size 36 sweater, and long graceful legs.) but soon I just felt abused by the many scenes of women getting date raped with the approval of their sorority sisters. Nothing happens to the rapists, but a woman who confesses to the crime of lesbian feelings gets institutionalized.

Ok. I was looking for campy fun, along with a sociologically interesting study of early lesbian fiction, but I discovered that I wasn't up for the grotesque misogyny I found here along with the campy fun and sociologically interesting bits. It's a good measure of the progress our culture has made, though, since the novel was written. ( )

It's too bad that, in order to get a book published about lesbians in the '50s, they had to end this way. ( )

This book was, as many pulps are, difficult to rate. On the one hand, this is considered to be the first lesbian pulp novel, so its historical and cultural importance is obvious. On the other hand, this book is a difficult read; I really had to slog through the first half. I don't want to give any spoilers (although this book is decades old), but the ending is a serious drag. Read it for the history, not for the story itself. ( )

Spring Fire is one of those lesbian pulp reads that reminds you that the pulp genre's shortcomings can also be what makes it noteworthy. Like Ann Bannon's Odd Girl Out, Spring Fire involves sorority oriented lesbian loving. The times in which these novels were written may have dictated that the passions between the female leads burn both quickly and unhappily, but unhappily ever after comes in different varieties. Spring Fire distinguishes itself as a story that is able to swing from melodrama throughout most of its body (like you would expect) and ends on a downright sinister note (which you might not have expected). Sure, it might be nice if the girl got the girl in the end, but if she can't then you may find a good dose of creepiness to be just as entertaining. ( )