"Passet, a professor of history and author (Sex Radicals and the Quest for Women's Equality), captures both the personal and professional obstacles faced by Jeanette Howard Foster, the foremother of lesbian literature. Passet begins with Foster's childhood and adolescence, a cold and confusing time with parents enthralled by their own business failures, living distantly from each other and their daughter. Tumultuous undergrad years take her through multiple colleges and her first few broken hearts. As a series of often-intellectual women traipse in and out of her life, a very driven Foster succeeds in obtaining her PhD and eventually works for famed sexual scientist Alfred Kinsey as the institute's first librarian-all before finally completing her own highly controversial book, Sex Variant Women in Literature. Somewhat ironically, Foster's personal life (especially her love life) take precedence over her accomplishments in nearly every chapter; still, Passet does justice to Foster's important place in both literary and lesbian culture. Photos." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)