Books

Femmes Fatales

The G-String Murders

Gypsy Rose Lee

Narrating a twisted tale of a backstage double murder, Gypsy Rose Lee provides a fascinating look behind the scenes of burlesque theater—richly populated by strippers, comics, and Siggy the G-string salesman.

In a Lonely Place

Dorothy Hughes

A classic noir that cracks open the heart of postwar American gender trouble—the basis for the classic 1950 film.

The Blackbirder

Dorothy Hughes

A classic World War II-era noir with a page-turning plot, The Blackbirder parallels the spy novels of Graham Greene and the films of Hitchcock. But in signature Hughes fashion, this 1943 novel has a twist: its hard-boiled protagonist is a woman.

Laura

Vera Caspary

The woman who kept men spellbound—even after her death...

Bedelia

Vera Caspary

A masterful psychological mystery unmasks a "Black Widow" serial killer.

Women's Barracks

Tereska Torres

The grim setting of an urban military barracks—with its freezing dorms, rationed food, and unbecoming regulation underwear—became the setting for one of the steamiest novels of its time and the first-ever "lesbian pulp."

The Girls in 3-B

Valerie Taylor

Three small-town girls face the hard choices of big city life in this classic 1950s pulp.

Now, Voyager

Olive Higgins Prouty

Now, Voyager is the story of a woman who discovers love, sex, and motherhood outside of marriage; and who learns that men are, ultimately, dispensable in the quest for happiness and fulfillment.

Bunny Lake Is Missing

Evelyn Piper

In this fraught and at times freakish tale of suspense, Evelyn Piper takes us deep into the psyche of the 1950s to explore American fetishes, fallacies, and fears around motherhood and sexuality.