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There's a lot to like about this (rather lengthy) LGBTQ modern/historical fiction. Abby is our modern main character, a DC high school senior who becomes obsessed with lesbian pulp fiction of the 1950s. She's also low key obsessed with her ex-girlfriend/best friend, and with avoiding stressful impending life events. Alternating chapters feature Janet, a plucky 1950s DC high school senior whose life path takes a turn when she realizes she is one of “those girls��, and what that might mean. There are also significant chunks of (fictionalized) “excerpts�� from both lesbian pulp fiction and the book Abby is trying to write for her senior project.
The author clearly did a lot of research about the 1950s and some of the realities for queer women. The Endnotes shed additional light on where she blurred the lines between reality and fiction. (I would have appreciated even more about her research and sources, but what she had was a start.) The Lavender Scare still isn't exactly mainstream content in high school classes, and this book could open a lot of eyes to the overlooked history.
Could Pulp have been edited down a little from its 406 pages? Yes. Abby's self-centered-ness got a little repetitive, while most of her friends remained two-dimensional, but that's not unusual. It was still an enjoyable book that I learned from.