GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS

A vibrant and intoxicating queer coming-of-age story set in 1990s San Francisco.

It's the summer of '96 and best friends (and secret girlfriends) Hannah and Sam are driving across the country from Long Beach, New York, to the fabled queer paradise of San Francisco, free from the harsh gazes of their neighbors and the stifling demands of Hannah's devout Orthodox Jewish mother. In San Francisco, they will finally be together as a real couple, out in the open, around other queer people. Even if the move means leaving behind Hannah's beloved Bubbe. But when financial strains push the girls to start stripping at The Chez Paree, Hannah feels trapped. She hates stripping nearly as much as she hates disappointing Sam. Then Hannah meets Chris, an older lesbian who is immediately taken with Hannah. And Hannah too is intrigued by Chris - her attention, her messiness, her pain - and the chance to escape the leering men at The Chez Paree. Desperate to stay in San Francisco, but away from the club, Hannah proposes an escort arrangement with Chris. As Hannah falls deeper into Chris' world and Sam starts to meet new friends, a rift forms between them. Without Sam, who is Hannah? And what is San Francisco to Hannah alone - a space rich with queer possibility, or an intimidating, unfamiliar place, just as lonely as the one she'd left behind? An achingly tender and resonant story of survival, first love, and growing up queer in the '90s, GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS is a piercing exploration of the choices we make in the thrilling and often confounding search for ourselves and home. Shoshana von Blanckensee lives in Berkeley, California, with her partner and kids. She is an Oncology Nurse by day, and a writer by any available moment. Girls Girls Girls is her debut novel.