Rubyfruit Jungle

For some reason I can't seem to resist a good gay coming-of-age story, so when I spotted Rubyfruit Jungle at the local rummage sale I knew we'd be spending the night. Published in 1973, the book follows the adolescence and early adulthood of Molly Bolt, who identifies as a lesbian at a young age and boldly embraces her orientation despite the prejudice she faces in the dirt-poor South and later in scintillating NYC. The storytelling is rushed and strains credibility at times (nearly every woman Molly encounters turns out to be a latent lesbian), but the voice is so vibrant and witty that the reader can forgive the structural missteps and sometimes stilted dialogue. Author Rita Mae Brown (the same RMB responsible for those Sneaky Pie cat mysteries – who knew!) is adept at making the reader feel the wild injustice felt by women, both straight and gay, in the 1950s and 60s. I cringed when characters called Molly a “smart-ass” rather than just plain “smart.” Though the book lacks the resonance and complexity of other classics that followed it (Bastard Out of Carolina, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit), Molly's devil-may-care attitude won me over.