Sloan Britain (1932–1963)

It's hard to find Sloane Britain (also known as Sloan Britton and Sloane Brittain in other searches as well as by her real name Elaine Williams) books these days which is a shame because she was not only a snappy writer, she had a knack for writing pulp fiction that wasn't salacious or merely written for kicks.

These Curious Pleasures has an upbeat ending for its time period, but later on Sloane Britain's novels took on a very cynical, unhappy outlook on love.

I was sad to read that the talented writer (who also worked for a publishing house in the mid 20 century) killed herself over her family's inability to accept her being gay. She must have wrestled with a lot of demons and it breaks my heart to think of people (both back then and today) who have no one to reach out to when they face homophobia on a daily basis and don't know what to do with feelings society has often told them are "wrong" or "sick."

As long as we live in a world that still condemns gays and lesbians we will always need books that speak to the loneliness and heartache of struggling to fit in.

These Curious Pleasures is a much more confident read than others from its time, but Elaine Williams herself surely needed some of the strength her alter ego has ("Sloane Brittain" is also the name of the main character in the novel) as a gay woman facing an often hostile reality.… (más)

I wish there were a way to find out more about Sloane Britain, an amazingly talented pulp fiction writer who died way too young and under way too sad circumstances (she killed herself when her family could not deal with her being gay.) While some of what she wrote ended in unhappiness typical of lesbian fiction at the time, books like These Curious Pleasures and First Person 3rd Sex had something more upbeat to offer, either with actual happily ever afters or at least hints of something better to come.

There is so much to like about this book except maybe the title which doesn't exactly roll of the mouth easily. I found myself enjoying several of the passages...ones such as this:

"I felt like laughing because, well, let's admit it, if you're not feeling anything there is something absurd about normally self-controlled dignified human beings grunting and panting with that expression of complete absorption on their faces." Paula (our main character whose heart is bigger than her head and far less practical when it comes to her roommate Janet) contemplates how silly physical love can be without emotional ties.

There's another great line about the main character's history with crushes and, later, she wrestles with how hard it is to meet someone she could actually share a life with forever (something a lot of people search for whether they are gay or straight).

"All I was sure of," Paula thinks to herself, "was that someday, somewhere, I would find that woman who would love me as I loved her. I don't know her name or what she looks like or anything about her, only that as I write this she, too, is waiting."

To contemplate that this was written six decades ago, when most pulp fiction featuring gay women had them "changing their minds," killing themselves, or being committed to institutions...well, that just makes this impressionable book even more overwhelming.

Katherine V. Forrest, a somewhat more modern pioneer in lesbian fiction, once wrote about women like Sloane Britain: "The courage of the authors of these books also cannot be overstated, pseudonyms be damned. The writers of these books laid bare an intimate, hidden part of themselves and they did it under siege, in the dark depths of a more than metaphorical wartime, because there was desperate urgency inside them to reach out, to put words on the page for women like themselves to read. Their words reached us, they touched us in different and deeply personal ways, and they helped us all....In my case, they saved my life."

These words strike hard with the truth, especially for anyone who has ever suffered in silence for fear speaking out would cost them their family or worse.
… (más)

A very good novel of drug addiction with some very unexpected twists and turns. And the most disturbing, depressing, and heartbreaking ending since "Nightmare Alley." This book haunted with me for a long time.
Slaone Britain is very good at creating well drawn, individual characters. Even minor characters have a life of their own. Which is one of the things that makes the ending so heartbreaking.
Rather than give a synopsis, I'll just say the novel is about one woman's descent into heroin addiction, her climb back out, and a very bizarre love triangle.
Copies are rare and expensive, but if you like this sort of thing, this is one of the best pulp novels out there.… (más)

Written in the first person, the main character in this book is Sloane Britain, an aspiring playwright who is currently working as a secretary. She meets Allison, an actress, and there is an instant attraction between them. But Sloane is (partially) still in love with her ex-girlfriend, Marilyn, and doesn't want anything serious.

This book is really hard to rate. On the one hand, it's pretty dated and rape is used as a plot device more than once. On the other hand, the book is a piece of LGBT history and is notable because it actually has a happy ending.

Recommended for those interested in lesbian pulps.… (más)