"Filing Is My Forte": Lois Lenz, Lesbian Secretary

Lois Lenz, Lesbian Secretary by Monica Nolan

As she prepares to graduate from high school, pep squad captain Lois Lenz is feeling awfully mixed up about her future and about her feelings for her gorgeous best friend, Faye. However, she's resigned to attending the local community college, pledging a sorority, and settling down like a good 1950s girl. Or, that is, until the school guidance counselor singles her out for her remarkable organizational skills, and offers to set her up with a secretarial position.

Despite her mother's fears of Communists, white slavers, and other threats to the virtue of small town girls, Lois strikes out for Bay City and the prestigious advertising firm of Sather & Stirling. As one concession to her worried mom, Lois does move into a women's boardinghouse, the Magdalena Arms. She's thrilled to be surrounded by vivacious career girls like herself, although she can't help noticing that they all seem a little, well, queer.

But that's nothing compared to life at Sather & Stirling, where no one is quite what they seem and everybody has something to hide. Lois soon finds herself swept up in blackmail plots, missing persons, and sinister filing schemes, with a predatory boss and duplicitous co-workers, to boot. Armed only with her wits and her copy of the Standard Secretary's Desk Reference, Fourth Edition, Lois must prove that she has what it takes to make her way in the business world. But surely there's time for a little bit of love and self-discovery along the way?

Lois Lenz, Lesbian Secretary may have a saucy premise, but somehow manages to be steamily PG-13. Nolan focuses more attention on a colorful cast of characters, and a terrifically fun plot that embraces the tropes of lesbian pulp and runs with them. Not just for a gay audience, Lois Lenz will appeal to lovers of all things pulp, camp, and cult.