Pulp by Robin Talley

I was so excited when I approved for a Netgalley arc for this book! Robin Talley's work has been on my radar for a while now, and I even own a few of her books on my Kindle, but haven't had the time to read them yet. 

Pulp is about two girls separated by decades. Abby lives in current day America, reeling from a recent break-up and the strange way both her parents and little brother are acting. She's supposed to be filling out college applications, but instead she finds herself immersed in the world of lesbian pulp fiction from the 1950's. 

Janet Jones lives in 1955, in the time of McCarthyism and rampant homophobia. She too has recently discovered lesbian pulp novels, and wants desperately to write her own -- but she's afraid her secret (as both a lesbian and a budding writer of lesbian fiction) will get herself and those around her hurt and backlisted.

I think Talley did a FANTASTIC job with Janet's chapters, bringing the cultural attitudes of the 1950's to life, as well as the unbelievable restrictions on all young women's lives at the time. I don't know a lot about McCarthy's reign of terror, but I definitely want to read more about it after this novel. 

I had a little more difficulty meshing with Abby. She's a bit more of a stereotypical YA character and sometimes I wanted to tell her to stop and calm down!! Her issues are definitely ones she needs to work through, but they seemed mild. In comparison, the stakes for Janet are very, very high. 

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC. 

Have you read Pulp, or are you thinking of picking up a copy?