Yet another pulp novel where the only thing missing is the pulp. The Girls in 3-B feels like a well-told story about small town girls with big city aspirations. Think of it as a quainter version of Mary McCarthy's The Group. The Girls in 3-B is the lighter version with less calories. ( )

I found a tattered copy of the original in my church basement bookstore when I was 12, and it totally scandalized me! A saucy little pleasure read.
-- Abby

"It was a simple story, Ilene Gordon said laughing. She lived in an apartment on the North Side - she named the neighborhood, and Barby recognized it as a very good neighborhood indeed, far better than her own. She had been sharing it with another girl, who was moving out in a few weeks. 'She's being married. I'm not sure what I'll do then, but anyway, it will work out.'
Barby tried to imagine a mariage that would be better than sharing an apartment with Ilene Gordon..."

A fun read. A little risque... people look at you a little funny if you read it on the bus. I suggest a bookcover, unless you enjoy shocking the suburbans. Well written for a pulp novel, though I suppose it's one of the reasons that The Feminist Press decided to reprint it. Also, out of the three girls of the title, the lesbian ends up with the happiest story. (yay!) It makes me want to take another turn through the early lesbian novels... maybe the Beebo Brinker stories, or maybe the pulp novel Women's Barracks (sounds promising!) ( )