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Rubyfruit Jungle | Introduction

When a small feminist press published Rita Mae Brown's Rubyfruit Jungle in 1973, the novel sold 70,000 copies despite being almost completely ignored by reviewers at major magazines and periodicals. In 1977 the book was reissued by Bantam Books and went on to sell over one million copies.

Rubyfruit Jungle chronicles the life of a young woman named Molly Bolt. Starting with her childhood in Pennsylvania, the book follows her adolescence in Florida and her later adventures in New York. Her relationships with other women are also a major source of focus and conflict in the novel. Many of the events and characters in the book draw from Brown's own early years.

Rubyfruit Jungle fits into the tradition of the picaresque novel, which typically follows the adventures of a socially or financially marginalized protagonist, such as Huck Finn in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). The book is unique within the picaresque tradition in that both the protagonist and the author are female.

Rubyfruit Jungle Summary

Early Years
As Rubyfruit Jungle opens, a young girl named Molly Bolt lives with her adoptive parents in Coffee Hollow, Pennsylvania, An industrious girl, she thinks up a moneymaking scheme with Brockhurst Detwiler. a school friend.

As the only uncircumcised child in the area, Molly charges nickels to look at Brockhurst's penis—and dimes to touch it. When another student tells a teacher, her mother finds out. Irate, her mother informs her that she is adopted and illegitimate.

Shortly after this incident. Molly's Aunt Jenna goes into the hospital to deliver a baby. It lives for only two days and a few weeks later, Jenna dies of cancer. Molly has her first sexual experience in sixth grade with another girl, Leota Bisland. The family moves to Florida.

Florida
In the second section, Molly details her school years in Florida. She struggles to fit in, yet realizes that she is different from her classmates.

She has her first heterosexual experience with her cousin Leroy, who tells her about his own passive homosexual experiences. She enters high school and begins to hang out with a more select, popular clique. After spotting her principal with a teacher in an adulterous meeting, Molly secures financial backing for her successful run at student body presidency.

She has a sexual affair with a female classmate, Carolyn, one of her two best friends. After Carolyn becomes jealous of the time Molly spends with her other best friend, Connie, and accuses Molly of sleeping... » Complete Rubyfruit Jungle Summary