Book Review: Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown

Laughing hard @ nothing

     This groundbreaking novel was praised (and criticized), at the time of its publication in 1973, for the unapologetic spirit of its heroine, Molly.  As a working-class woman who is attracted to other women, she is rejected by her family and marginalized wherever she goes, from the South to New York City.  Despite these obstacles, she insists that she doesn’t give a damn what anyone else thinks of her.  In fact, she rattles on for paragraphs at a time about how little she cares for the opinions of others.
     At the time of Rubyfruit Jungle’s publication, this was probably the heroine that the lesbian and queer community needed - audacious, unflinching, irreverent, and indestructible.  These are qualities which queer women have historically aspired to in order to survive.  However, as both a modern reader and a modern queer woman, it seems to me that Molly possesses these qualities in unbelievably pure form.  Her careless, blustering rants lend an appearance of two-dimensionality to her character.  I admire Molly's strength, but she feels most authentic when the author shows her vulnerability.
     All that aside, I loved Rubyfruit Jungle for its portrayal of romance and sexual exploration between women, in addition to academic and artistic barriers to queer and straight women alike.  I also enjoyed the use of setting to chart Molly's growth as a character - she spends her childhood in Pennsylvania and her youth in Florida, but comes of age in New York City.  I especially liked the section about her years in the city because I love reading about twentieth-century queer culture in NYC.  There is a lot to love about this coming-of-age story, including its radical place in history.