It is amazing (to me, at least) how so much pulp fiction of the 50s and 60s is well-written, especially the kind by women like March Hastings.

Though definitely a sign of their times (often failing to have a happy ending because popular culture, and even the postal office, demanded it), novels like Three Women can still have value today. Society has certainly progressed these past five decades, but very few gays and lesbians manage to escape their lives untouched by hatred, whether from the world in general or their own family members.

Also amazing is how once you peel away the contributing factors to what sets up the major conflict in Three Women, you are actually addressing an age-old question both straight and gay people face in relationships no matter the era: What do you when your partner's ex is always in the background, even when she isn't physically there?

Two of the three women in the title definitely and tragically fall victim to a society that tells them being gay is not only "wrong," but "sinful" as well. The third woman, Paula, falls victim not so much to homophobia as she falls victim to her own impatience and lack of faith in the woman she loves. The reader wonders if things would end differently if Paula just didn't push so much.

No doubt about it...Three Women does not have the happy ending anyone who believes in true love would like it to have. Refreshingly, though, it never condemns the love found within these pages.

I could be reading too much into it out of some hopeful need to see it, but I think Hastings was actually suggesting tragedy befalls everyone when a harsh world dictates who should and shouldn't be able to love each other. ( )

Fans familiar with lesbian pulp fiction will recognize the setup within Three Women: a young woman believes herself to be in love with the nice guy...until she simultaneously discovers that "something doesn't feel right" (i.e. the sex sucks) and that she has become obsessed with a mysterious older woman with a troubled past. The young woman throws away her chance at a good marriage in favor of a clandestine affair with the mysterious lady. There's bound to be bumpy road in store for our heroine. (If not, there wouldn't be a book.) How can you lose with this old tried and true formula?

Well, you can't lose. Three Women is a solid effort out of the school of lesbian pulp fiction. It is, however, notably less angsty than other examples within the genre. This is both a good and a bad thing. It's good because there is such a thing as too much dyke drama and bad because this translates into less psychological depth overall. Don't let that deter you though. Three Women is still an engrossing read to be read alongside the classics by Ann Bannon and Vin Packer. ( )