I loved this dual narrative about a lesbian in the 1950s who starts to write her own pulp fiction, and a lesbian in 2017 who is obsessed with these books. Really lovely!

I was drawn to this by the cover. I did find the premise interesting. Although I am cautious about more than one story line as it can sometimes be hard to transition from one to another.

I was immediately engaged with the 2017 story. Worth reading.

"In 1955 eighteen-year-old Janet Jones must keep the love she shares with her best friend a secret. As in the age of McCarthyism to be gay is to sin. But when Janet discovers a series of books about women falling in love with other women, it awakens something in her. As she juggles a romance she must keep hidden and a new-found 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 Cohen can’t stop thinking about her senior project – classic 1950s lesbian pulp fiction. She feels especially connected to one author, ‘Marian Love’, and becomes determined to track her down and discover her true identity. Is Abby prepared for what she will find?"

I’d seen a lot of hype about Pulp around the bookish internet, so I was excited to pick it up. I’ve read some of Talley’s other books, with some mixed feelings about them. And sadly, Pulp was another that left me with mixed feelings, though I think a fair amount of that is probably my personal taste.

Pulp follows two parallel story lines. In modern day DC, Abby is struggling with her senior year of high school. She’s just broken up with her first girlfriend, and has some serious work to do in school. In the 50s, Janet has had her eyes opened to the fact that she might be a lesbian, something which, were she to be open about it, could place her in serious danger. The stories overlap when Abby delves into the world of lesbian pulp fiction, reads the book that Janet wrote, and becomes determined to discover what happened to its author.

As a historical novel, Pulp certainly brought home to me the dreadful realities of being gay in 1950s US. Janet reads as quite naïve to today’s audiences, but that only emphasises how very little information she had, and how few ways she had to get more information. She’s reliant on a whisper network, and on brave individuals willing to put themselves out there to try and educate her. It’s a chilling way to live, and given news coming from other places, such as Chechnya, it certainly made me grateful to be living in present day London, and more appreciative of the daily difficulties of people who came before.

The modern storyline, with Abby, is well-wrought, giving what felt to me like a realistic vision of a hugely stressed out senior who feels like everyone around her has a clear idea of what they’re doing with their lives, while she’s just treading water, trying to figure out where to go next. I could certainly relate to her in that way, and I think there will be plenty of other readers who feel similarly. Compared to Janet, Abby and her friends are incredibly worldly and knowledgeable, and learning about Janet’s story teaches Abby about how drastically things have changed in sixty years, and gives her some perspective on her own life.

The book also has commentary on what it means to be a writer, from both Abby and Janet’s perspectives. Without saying anything that would spoil the story, I definitely appreciated the lessons that Abby comes to learn about writing from investigating Janet’s life, and how books can mean hugely different things to their authors and their readers.

The reason I personally didn’t enjoy the book that much was because I struggled to connect to either of the main characters. I enjoyed reading about them, but didn’t feel particularly engaged with their stories. As I mentioned above, I think that’s probably a matter of personal taste. I’ve felt a similar way about others of Talley’s books that I’ve read, so I think it’s just that her writing doesn’t suit me personally. 

Overall, Pulp is a well-written book with a great, diverse cast, which sheds light on a period of recent history which, from my knowledge, has been little touched upon by current YA novels. It offers an opportunity for modern readers to learn about the day to day experience of life as a queer person in the 1950s, as well as showing a modern teen who’s dealing with personal problems of her own. Though it wasn't a book I enjoyed much myself, I think it would appeal to those who enjoy historical fiction, parallel storylines, and anyone who's enjoyed previous of Talley's books.

I'm the kind of person who can't watch shoplifters on the TV so this book had me squirming in my seat a lot of the time as it portrayed how difficult it was to be a lesbian in the 1950s so well. And this is the kind of book you want to read, something that invokes emotions and connects you with the characters. It's a book that will touch someone trying to understand their sexuality and hopefully make them realise they're not alone. The dual storyline worked well and I enjoyed the book overall.

Just finished an ARC of this and was reminded why people actually really like YA fiction! The concept (contemporary teen discovers 1950s lesbian pulp fiction) is really cool, and the book strikes a nice balance between teen love and reality - not to spoil it, but I really appreciated the end.
I love a good embedded narrative or combined story or timeline hop at the moment, and it was sometimes a little jarring (partly Kindle formatting, partly from the actual content) but overall it was a fun read with a little more historical interest behind the fluff.

I so enjoyed this! A great dual narrative between two teenage lesbians living in Washington DC, one in the 1950s and one in 2017, brought together across the decades by lesbian pulp fiction. It was very informative - I learnt a lot about the Lavender Scare and other aspects of LGBTQ+ history in the US - and though it went a little heavy on the exposition a couple of times, it was generally done in quite a natural way and was enjoyable throughout. An important addition to YA and a must-read for anyone interested in LGBTQ+ history.

Pulp was my first Robin Talley book. I really enjoyed her writing. Pulp was such a heartwarming story. I admit i cried some parts. Robin Talley did an amazing job telling a story about lgbt+ history. Characters were same age but they lived different timelines. I loved reading both narratives. Both characters are equally strong females but i loved Janet Jones courage. I wanted to read this book since i saw and i am really happy because the story is really good.

3.5 stars

I think that "Pulp" started out strong but then lost steam in final 20% or so. I liked the dual time lines and the two protagonists both had interesting storylines, but towards the end it felt like the author had to rush to wrap everything up and as a result the ending didn't feel earned or satisfying to me.

The storylines wrapped up to neatly, Abby's problems were resolved in ten pages and it just felt like there was a chunk of the story missing. The side characters weren't really developed and in the modern day time line they all felt rather artificial and just not very realistic.

In summary, I liked the set up of the story and the dual time lines in general, but the characters and the rushed ending kind of took away from it.

I was really looking forward to Pulp. Historical books with LGBT characters, when they don’t end in tragedy, are one of my favourite genres. And I had hopes that this one would fall into that category. Unfortunately, it turned out just not for me.

The story alternates between Janet in the 1950s, finding her first lesbian pulp fiction, and Abby in 2017, who embarks on a project for school about pulp fiction. Janet is in the throes of first love, while Abby is coping with breaking up with her first girlfriend and the falling apart of her parents’ marriage.

One of the things I loved about this book was that it used the word “lesbian” a lot, and that’s actually fairly uncommon in YA lit. Within the first chapter alone, it was used around ten times. Unfortunately, that kind of dropped off in favour of using qu–r (a word I’m not particularly fond of, but we’ll get to that). However, it was really refreshing to see a character explicitly label themselves as a lesbian.

My favourite part of this book was the parts which discussed the LGBT community in the 1950s. LGBT history is not something I know a lot about, and it’s something that’s pretty much never taught, so that was really interesting. I almost wished the entire book was set in the historical context.

But, while I liked those aspects of the book, a lot of it really just bored me. It was a long book, and I wasn’t actually that interested in Abby’s part of the story – she seemed kind of like an overdramatic brat to me and I couldn’t tell if that was there being too much of an age difference between me and her, or if she was genuinely an overdramatic brat. Possibly part of why I didn’t like Abby’s part was because of her insistence of using the word qu–r to describe characters in the 1950s. When qu–r was a slur even more so than it is now. I don’t like applying that as a blanket term to anyone, let alone people who are (a) now dead, and (b) lived in a time when it came with such horrors. So the constant use of it in this book really put me off.

One last thing: I liked the twist at the end, because I was all prepared to be set up for Yet Another Tragic Ending (about halfway through it looked like that was going to happen). The problem was, I had been so bored by the book dragging up to that point, that I just wanted it to end.

This book is absolutely charming!

The story ostensibly centres on Abby, who is a teenager today doing a school book project on lesbian pulp fiction. But the real meat of the book is in Janet Jones, a teenager in the 1950s. The story alternates between the lives of these two young women, both gay, but living in very different times; and the stories they write and read to help them understand and explore their sexuality. A really interesting portrayal of sexuality in McCarthy era America.

(Thanks to the publishers for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)

Pulp is a very timely novel. By highlighting the way gay women were treated in the 1950's, it shows how easily freedoms could be eroded in todays' populist America.
Abby is researching lesbian pulp fiction for a school project while her family disintegrates at home. Her parents are almost never together, and Abby is spinning.
Pulp shines a light on love, and how we need all kinds of love to flourish . Through the book, Abby becomes a more fully-rounded and mature person.
Perhaps more fascinating than Abby's story is that of the burgeoning writer Janet Jones in 1955. She is determined to be her true self at any cost. Robin Talley paints 1955 as a truly frightening time to be gay.

Thank you Netgalley and HQ Young Adult for providing me an ARC of this book, in exchange of an honest review.

I must say I was interested to read Pulp because of the dual perspective between this young woman discovering she's a lesbian in 1955, and another lesbian girl in current time, going through her problems. And it was definitely my favourite part of the book, to see those different storylines and finding out how they would intersect.

The thing is I was much more into the storyline happening in 1955. I'm sure Robin Talley did a lot of research to write this book (which she proves in the aknowledgements as well) and it shows. I also really felt Janet's struggles and fears, and I admit I teared up a few times. It was really difficult to be queer in the 50's and, unfortunately, it still is in a lot of places.

On the other hand, Abby's storyline didn't touch me as much, even though I could relate to her family struggles. I think the problem is that, for a long time, the plot didn't seem to be going somewhere and it was obssessively focusing on the same stuff, over and over again, which felt repetitive and overdone, even though I got the point. I actually don't think I even got to know Abby's friends besides knowing they're all queer and/or POC, they were so underdeveloped.

However, clearly, my struggles with one of the perspectives didn't completely ruin the book for me. Not only I loved Janet and her story, I also found interesting to get to know more about lesbian culture in the 50's and pulp lesbian fiction. Besides, I quite enjoyed the ending. So, in the end, I couldn't give Pulp less than 4 stars and I'm interested to check out more of Robin Talley's books.

My rating of this book lies somewhere between three and four stars. I really loved a lot of things about it - like the awesome diversity and representation - but other things I didn't like as much. I think this is really a readable and important book and I am really happy that this is going to be out in the world!

I really loved the premise as well. It really appealed to me as essentially it was all about books and writing and authors. I think it was a really unique story and I have never really read anything similar. Any bookworm would be drawn in by that synopsis. I loved the running theme of lesbian pulp fiction and how it tied the two threads of the story together, and I found the element of Abby writing her own book really fun to read about and also relatable.

However, I did think that the characters needed a little more fleshing out earlier on in the book. I did only start to become attached to them towards the end. Also, I definitely preferred Abby over Janet, just because I found Janet quite naïve and thought that some of her decisions were a little unexplained and only went wrong to further the plot. And speaking of plot, I didn't feel that the book really got started until about half way through. The beginning was quite slow, and as I didn't feel much for the characters and I found the writing a little simplistic, I lost interest a little towards the middle.

However, overall I really enjoyed this book and I found it relatively easy to get through. There was so much diversity packed into this one book, as well as other themes such as divorce and family strain. I would definitely recommend it to other readers, as I not only enjoyed it, but also think that this is an extremely important book and I am so happy to have been able to read it.

Do you remember the moment after the first episode of the American Horror Story election!season when everyone paused, looked at one another and wondered if Ryan Murphy was taking the piss out of us? Pulp felt like that.
This is primarily because, the modern-day sections of the novel were so overtly millennial that, in some moments, they began to feel like a sort of parody. I almost know for certain that this was unintentional on Robin Talley’s part but, that didn’t stop it from edging that way. The characters were name-cards who went to pro-choice rallies, and wrote feminist essays, and voted for Bernie Sanders, but weren’t fleshed-out enough to have enough opinions and agency to be able to carry those thoughts.
Another way that the novel could be interpreted is that, the novel feeds into the discussion surrounding such authors as Becky Albertalli - that the sheer number of references will seriously date the book in a couple of years and that the presence of them sometimes makes it close to unreadable. It was like she was trying to give her audience the perfect book (a venture which never goes as well as it sounds). Like she was trying too hard; as though she was the slightly-out-of-the-loop older cousin trying to fit in with the teenagers.
See, I know what instalove is, see?
See, I know what hurt/comfort fan fiction is, see?
It crossed over into cringey. Almost like, your dad calling someone his OTP.
Pulp would have been far better off just focussing on the fifties, because the framing device of the modern-day really sucks.

I have mixed feelings about Pulp.

Firstly, I loved the premise: what's not to love about a dual narrative, with one focusing on a girl (Abby) discovering lesbian pulp fiction from the 1950s in modern times and the other following another girl (Janet) who actually lived in the 50s - and their stories maybe eventually tying together?

But here it already starts to get messy. The different stories the novel follows were too similar to actually keep straight (heh): Both Abby and Janet discover pulp, both of them become obsessed, both of them begin writing some of their own, the story the one writes is read by the other, they both also read another book that is the same - and excerpts from everyhing they're reading and writing is included, which makes it really hard to follow where we actually are and what is actually happening. The sheer number of different stories explored made it very difficult for me to get into the novel and then keep track of what was happening and I kept wondering what the actual point of the story was.

Another thing I did not enjoy is that a lot of the historical context necessary to make sense of why Janet (and the characters in the lesbian pulp) act the way they do is given in a sort of "history lesson" style instead of being woven organically into the narrative. One of our POV characters is actually living that life - we did not need to be explicitly told that information in the modern perspective again!

I also could not understand why Abby was acting the way she was - her actions made zero sense to me. Why did she even become obsessed with Marian Love? Why did she ignore her schoolwork? Did she actually want to college or not? It felt a little like she was lying to herself, but at the same time she wasn't. She lived in a bubble for so long, but that bubble was never really explored and then that bubble suddenly burst, but I can only guess what the moment was because it just was not given any proper screentime. All of a sudden, she just acted so mature and it was just strange.

But to round everything off on a more positive note, here are some things about Pulp that I did really like:

It was nice to see the lack of diversity in pulp fiction and the blatant racism of the time both acknowledged and challenged. Abby did this by attempting to invert the genres of the trope, while Janet met black lesbians and began recognizing and reflecting on racism and her own ignorance and privilege.

I also especially loved the portrayal of politically active teens that was Abby's circle of friends - it was so nice to see them actively standing up for what they believe in, and not just on the internet but also out in the world.

Overall, while there were significant parts I didn't understand the relevance of, the elements I liked I really loved and thought were very well done.

Pulp is a novel about LGBT history and finding your voice, with a dual narrative that moves between 1955 and 2017. Eighteen-year-old Janet Jones lives in McCarthy era Washington DC and discovering a series of books about women falling in love with other women leads her to try and write a story herself. However, the love she feels for her best friend Marie puts them both in danger and writing a story might not be the best idea. In 2017, Abby Cohen starts a senior project on 1950s lesbian pulp fiction and finds herself obsessed with one book and its author, 'Marian Love'. She wants to track down the truth, but must also balance her schoolwork, ex-girlfriend, and her parents' imploding relationship.

The format of the novel means that it is both about and enacting the discovery of LGBT history by people in later decades, using a very personal approach. This makes it a powerful read, with the knowledge that though the pulp authors Talley uses as main characters are fictional, there are many who weren't. It also addresses how changing perspectives and awareness of issues can complicate this discovery, for example the predominance of white characters in these pulp books. Janet and Abby are engaging main characters, particularly as they are both flawed teenagers who learn more about awareness of themselves and others around them. Abby in particular shuts herself off from people in her life with single minded focus on her project, and has to realise to keep thinking about the future whilst uncovering the past.

Pulp is a book for young adults and adults alike, with an inspiring story that attacks the 'bury your gays' trope and shows connections across generations through common experiences and the power of writing. It is a reminder of how the past is vital to forging a future and it has an important message too about how books can both change people's lives and aren't the whole story or necessarily true to life.

I loved Robin Talley’s previous books and as soon as I read the synopsis for this I knew it was so far up my street that I was desperate to read it. A novel dealing with the lesbian pulps of the 1950s? Yes please! The genre was a fascinating one and with Robin Talley I knew it would be in safe hands.

The books, with their lurid titles and covers, were marketed as titillation (many, though by no means all, were written by straight men and were pretty bad) but the better ones often meant a great deal to women who discovered them and saw, perhaps for the first time, that they were not alone in their feelings. Unfortunately the “morality” of the time precluded happy endings for the lesbian characters, who almost invariably ended up dying or turning straight - exceptions were few and far between. A lot of the books referred to are real (including, believe it or not, Satan Was a Lesbian).

Anyway, in the present day seventeen-year-old Abby, struggling after her breakup with girlfriend Linh and difficulties between her parents at home, discovers and is quickly captivated by the strange world of 1950s lesbian pulp novels, in particular one called Women of the Twilight Realm by the mysterious Marian Love, who apparently only published one novel and promptly disappeared. Abby becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Marian...

Many years earlier in 1955, another young woman, Janet, is equally captivated by A Love So Strange, the novel she stumbled upon at a bus station bookstall, seeing in it a much-needed recognition of her own feelings for her friend Marie. But times are far more dangerous for Janet than for out-and-proud twenty-first-century Abby.

The hysterically repressive political climate of the McCarthyist 1950s is very well evoked and it was fascinating (and terrifying) to read about the measures taken against anyone who was suspected of, well, anything, particularly anything communist-y or gay-y. At one point a female character comes under suspicion because “her voice is too low” - that’s the level of absurdity people were dealing with. Although clearly far too young to remember any of it, Robin Talley has definitely done her research (Senator Hunt was a real person for instance).

There are lots of nods to real writers of that and other times - Bannon Press is clearly a reference to writer Ann, perhaps the best known of the lesbian pulp authors, and I felt Claire Singer’s name was a reference to the pseudonym under which Patricia Highsmith wrote The Price of Salt, Claire Morgan. (Also the Sheldon Lounge - Alice Sheldon?) I’m sure there were many I missed.

I thought I knew where the plot was going in terms of what happened to Janet, but as it turned out, I was barking up an entirely wrong tree and the outcome was a big surprise.

For me this book entirely lived up to its promise - I loved it.

Robin Talley is my favourite author of YA LGBT+ lit. Pulp embraces the complex history of LGBT+ rights and activism in the United States, showing us how much has changed since the 1950s and 1960s and, sadly, how little has. Almost the entire cast is queer: lesbian protagonist Abby is struggling to stay friends with her ex and keep up with the demands of her senior year. She is a fan of '50's fashion and stumbles upon a blog of 'Lesbiana' book covers with lurid titles like 'Satan Was A Lesbian!'. Her academic adviser (also a lesbian!) encourages her to write her own pulp novel for her senior project, stressing the importance of in-depth historical research. Abby is a prolific and popular fan fiction writer, and her adviser warns her not to copy the pulp authors' style. She decides to try and subvert pulp tropes, starting with the unhappy endings dictated by the censorship rules of the era. She visits queer historians and learns about the Lavender Scare that rocked DC, and the city's Black lesbian population, widely overlooked by the pulps. Abby becomes inexorably drawn to the work of author Marian Love, who only published one pulp novel before disappearing. She is convinced that Marian is still alive somewhere, probably living in DC, hopefully not married with children but living her best old lady lesbian life. Tracking Marian down becomes more important to Abby than finishing her novel, and her friends and family struggle to support her new obsession.
While Abby learns more about 'Marian', the reader learns about 50s lesbian Janet Jones. Janet is 18 and still living at home with her father, who is desperate to make a name for himself amongst the local Republicans. Janet begins an affair with her older best friend, who has a 'glamorous' job in a government typing pool. When she isn't studying or flipping burgers at the local drive-in, Janet travels to the city's seediest bookshops looking for lesbiana. She writes a passionate letter to the author of her favourite book, and receives a bus ticket to New York in return. Can she write well enough to score a publishing deal before she's even been to college? Can she summon up the courage to leave conservative DC and start a new life in a smoky New York queer bar?
The Abby chapters in Pulp are set in 2017, during the reign of President Trump and the unsettling rise of the Far Right. Abby and her queer friends live openly and go on weekend protests; they are mostly accepted by their families, though one of her friends struggles to get her parents to use her preferred neutral pronouns. Janet doesn't really resemble modern-day teenager, referring to her parents as Sir and Ma'am and abiding by their dress code when she should be considered an adult. Talley hasn't compromised on the 1950s setting, choosing the highlight the differences between Abby and Janet instead of describing a non-existent universal queer experience. That's not to doubt the strength of Janet's love or her convictions- though they are very different people, both teenagers show incredibly tenacity when faced with very high stakes.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in queer history, and anyone looking for a YA novel set in the middle of our challenging political climate. Queer teens will undoubtedly identify with Abby but any teenage who is under pressure to perform and conform will relate. This novel is less experimental than some of Talley's other books so I would happily recommend it to less confident readers, perhaps as an introduction to Talley's other work. I have definitely been inspired to check out pulp lesbiana, starting with Ann Bannon/"Beebo Breeker"!