Review: Pulp by Robin Talley

Book Rewind is a review featuring backlist titles, because we like to give love and value to books that aren’t just new releases. Today, we are featuring Pulp by Robin Talley, this brilliant LGBTQIA+ story is perfect for anyone’s Pride TBR so we hope you check it out!

Pulp

by Robin Talley
Published by: Harlequin Teen
on November 13, 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Contemporary
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In 1955, eighteen-year-old Janet Jones keeps the love she shares with her best friend Marie a secret. It’s not easy being gay in Washington, DC, in the age of McCarthyism, but when she discovers a series of books about women falling in love with other women, it awakens something in Janet. As she juggles a romance she must keep hidden and a newfound ambition to write and publish her own story, she risks exposing herself—and Marie—to a danger all too real.

Sixty-two years later, Abby Zimet can’t stop thinking about her senior project and its subject—classic 1950s lesbian pulp fiction. Between the pages of her favorite book, the stresses of Abby’s own life are lost to the fictional hopes, desires and tragedies of the characters she’s reading about. She feels especially connected to one author, a woman who wrote under the pseudonym “Marian Love,” and becomes determined to track her down and discover her true identity.

In this novel told in dual narratives, New York Times bestselling author Robin Talley weaves together the lives of two young women connected across generations through the power of words. A stunning story of bravery, love, how far we’ve come and how much farther we have to go.

Review

I’ve been waiting to read more Robin Talley, having read her in Toil & Trouble and Feral Youth. I also want to read more f/f romance, making Pulp the perfect choice.

The basic premise of Pulp is told in two alternating timelines, modern day, where Abby is studying 1950’s lesbian pulp fiction, and 1955, where Janet can not be open about her love for Marie. 

Oh, how I loved this story.

First, I love books told in alternate voices. Alternate timelines. Intersected in so many ways. It worked BIG TIME in this book and spoke to how far we’ve come (and reality in where we still need to go). I was interested in Janet’s story in her own right and also through Abby’s eyes. To say I marathoned this book is an underestimate.

It was heartbreaking to read Janet’s story and know that so many people lived that experience. I can only imagine what Robin’s research process for this story was like. Also, can we get a room at The Ripped Bodice full of lesbian pulp fiction? #automaticTBR

Abby is also trying to find her way and to see her explore who she is through fiction (and reality) is such a treat. To see herself and her community in books. Her overall development through the story. Ugh, it’s just SO. GOOD.

This story was educational on so many levels. I hope it makes its way into many classrooms, book clubs, and libraries (it landed in mine!). The audio is fantastic and I love that Robin read the author’s note!