Rubyfruit Jungle

by Rita Mae Brown

Paperback

English language

Published April 9, 1980 by Bantam.

ISBN:: 978-0-553-14696-7

(8 reviews)

Rubyfruit Jungle is the first milestone novel in the extraordinary career of one of this country's most distinctive writers. Bawdy and moving, the ultimate word-of-mouth bestseller, Rubyfruit Jungle is about growing up a lesbian in America – and living happily ever after.

Born a bastard, Molly Bolt is adopted by a dirt-poor Southern couple who want something better for their daughter. Molly plays doctor with the boys, beats up Leroy the tub and loses her virginity to her girlfriend in sixth grade.

As she grows to realize she's different, Molly decides not to apologize for that. In no time she mesmerizes the head cheerleader of Ft. Lauderdale High and captivates a gorgeous bourbon-guzzling heiress.

But the world is not tolerant. Booted out of college for moral turpitude, an unrepentant, penniless Molly takes New York by storm, sending not a few female hearts aflutter with her startling beauty, crackling wit and …

13 editions

Baltipink reviewed Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown

Review of 'Rubyfruit Jungle' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I read this for a 1973 project I'm working on. I knew it was a famous coming of age lesbian story, but nothing else. Turns out the protagonist is adopted with a hateful mother and spends a lot of the book in Ft. Lauderdale not too long before I grew up. So it turned out to be a bit of nostalgia and I could really identify with the kind of alone in the world she was. But there is a lot of offensive shit in this book - rape, incest, racism... And don't expect a lot of reflection. But there's not a lot of time to reflect when you're young and have to be constantly prepared to fight.