DANE, CLEMENCE. (pseud. of Winifred Ashton); _Regiment of Women._ Macmillan, 1917. Possibly the earliest novel of variance. A lengthy book of the subtle sadism of the domineering headmistress of a girl’s school.
DARIUS, MICHEL. _I, Sappho of Lesbos._ Castle Books, May 1960. Supposedly translated from a Medieval Latin manuscript conveniently lost on the Andrea Doria. In first-person, this weaves the better-known traditions about Sappho into a racy, fast-moving novel. The lesbian content is not emphasized, unduly. Writing-wise, this invites comparison with the work of Pierre Louys. The “scholarship” is completely tongue-in-cheekish, of course, as with the _Songs of Bilitis_. In general, this should prove the Title of the Year for those who wonder why they don’t write like Pierre Louys anymore. (Department of Unpaid Advertising; this one can NOW be ordered through Winston Book Service; see Appendix.)
DAVENPORT, MARCIA. _Of Lena Geyer._ Scribner, 1936. Well-known novel of the life of an opera singer. Lena has a young satellite and adorer, but Elsie is careful to say that while “gossip has had many cruel things to say of this friendship ... there was, needless to say, not a word of truth in the essential accusation.” The two women remain together, even after Lena’s marriage, until her death.
DAVEY, WILLIAM. _Dawn Breaks the Heart._ Howell Soskin & Co, 1941. A lengthy episode involves the sensitive hero’s elopement with Vivian, an irresponsible girl who turns out to be a lesbian and leaves him for another woman. Excellent.
DAVIES, RHYS. “Orestes”, ss in _The Trip to London._ N. Y. Howell Soskin & Co, 1946. A lesbian manages to free the protagonist of a mother-complex, because her attitude is free of feminine seductiveness.
+ DAVIS, FITZROY. _Quicksilver._ Harcourt, Brace, 1942. Hilarious novel of the theatre, supposedly based on actual personalities recognizable to the initiate; my reviewer wrote that some theatrical people “literally turn purple at the mere mention of this book ... most real pro actors detest portrayal of homosexuality in theatre fiction, bad publicity and all that ... can’t say I blame them much.”
DAY, MAX. _So Nice, So Wild._ pbo, Stanley Library Inc, 1959. Evening waster; an impossibly complicated murder-story plot with a hero who, trying to prove he didn’t murder his own uncle, is pestered by all sorts of girls crawling into his bunk, blondes, brunettes and a few lesbians trying hard to convert themselves to heterosexuality. Funny, real fun.