We, Too, Must Love

A literary lesbian landmark that “will transport today’s readers . . . to the 1950s homosexual scene” (Marcia M. Gallo, author of Different Daughters).

Three years after the publication of her groundbreaking 1955 bestseller, We Walk Alone, Ann Aldrich expanded on her journalistic portraits of lesbian subcultures in and around New York, in We, Too, Must Love.

Inspired by the hundreds of letters she received by women from around the country (many reprinted here), Aldrich tackled questions of class division; explored the diverse careers lesbians held; guided readers through the social cliques and bar scenes; set the record straight on gay stereotypes; observed the differences among the “Village,” “Uptown,” and Brooklyn lesbian communities; and hinted at the growing consciousness that would fuel later lesbian and gay rights movements. We Walk Alone and We, Too, Must Love are, in effect, “indispensable guides to a hidden world” (Advocate.com).

“Simultaneously intimate and investigative, subjective and discerning” (UTNE Magazine), “Aldrich touched innumerable lives and gave hope to lesbians mired in a harsh and ignorant era. Read these books to learn what it was like back then, what we believed and how we made a start in the struggle against prejudice.” —Ann Bannon, author of The Beebo Brinker Chronicles