+ PHELPS, ROBERT. Heroes and Orators. N. Y. McDowell & Oblensky 1958. Fine modern novel of family relationships, containing a lesbian character described as the most real, human and sympathetic in recent years; Margot, in love with her ex-husband’s sister Elizabeth. The two women live together, but any intimate relationship between them is disclaimed.
PHILLIPS, THOMAS HAL. The Bitterweed Path. Rinehart 1949, pbr Avon 1954, 1959, (m).
POWELL, DAWN. A Cage for Lovers. Boston, Houghton Mifflin 1957. Mannish, wealthy hypochondriac keeps her nurse-companion in virtual slavery until the younger girl breaks away and marries. Competent novel by a popular author.
PRIEST, J. C. Private School. Beacon pbo 1959 scv.
PRITCHARD, JANET. Warped Women. Beacon pbo 1951, 1956, 1959. Despite the lurid blurb and cover, this is a nice evening waster about an innocent young girl who goes to work for a woman’s health club which is, behind the scenes, an abortion mill run by gangsters. Fronting for the group, an attractive lesbian takes a fancy to the heroine, eventually protects her against the gangster boss at the risk of her own life. The heroine then marries a nice boy who’s been telling her all along that the place is rotten. Suspenseful, interesting.
PROUST, MARCEL. Remembrance of Things Past, the great work of the well-known French homosexual author, is available in many (virtually all except rural-provincial) libraries, numerous college editions, etc. Long sections are variant, male-homosexual or lesbian; bibliography would occupy entirely too much space. Try a stray volume in qpb and see if Proust is your cup of tea—he isn’t everyone’s.
PURTSCHER, NORA. Woman Astride. Appleton-Century, 1934. Woman spends almost her entire life in male disguise. Offbeat, variant rather than explicitly lesbian.
PYKE, RICHARD. The Lives and Deaths of Roland Greer. NY, Boni 1929, (m). Horrifying.
RAVEN, SIMON. The Feathers of Death. London, A. Blond, 1959, Simon & Schuster 1960, (m).