The Demands of the Flesh

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Ellen, a widow, grapples with the conflict between her social propriety and her overwhelming emotional and physical needs. The demands of her desires, particularly for physical intimacy, become increasingly intense. She finds fleeting satisfaction with Raoul, a hedonist, but feels degraded afterward. In contrast, her relationship with Nita, a lesbian, offers her comfort and a tentative peace, yet she questions whether this path is sustainable. Richard, a medic, emerges as a potential guide through her emotional and sexual turmoil, helping her navigate the labyrinth of her conflicting feelings. The author, known by several pseudonyms including March Hastings, Laura Duchamp, and Viveca Ives, was a prolific writer born in the 1930s, credited with over 130 novels across various genres. She gained recognition for her groundbreaking lesbian-themed pulp paperbacks in the 1950s and early 1960s, such as Three Women and The Third Theme. However, by the late 1960s and early 1970s, the March Hastings name was appropriated by her publisher, leading to a dilution of her legacy as a pioneering author of lesbian pulp and erotic fiction.