Thank you, Elaine Showalter.
The feminist scholar and critic extraordinaire has undertaken what many of us consider to be the most praise-worthy of tasks: heralding and detailing the fine fiction produced by American women writers from colonial times to today.
Showalter’s new book, A Jury of Her Peers, is long overdue, but we nevertheless welcome it with open arms. (See the Elle mag synopsis of the book, which is nicely done.) First of all I love the cover (and, let’s face it, that’s often what sells a book), but the content is the real magic. Superstars of American fiction—you know the ones: Emily Dickinson, Edith Wharton, Toni Morrison—are considered alongside their lesser-known counterparts—obscure names like Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Ann Beattie. Seen together, the full depth and breadth of subjects treated by American women from a variety of backgrounds and throughout myriad periods can finally be understood and appreciated. Perhaps now many of these noteworthy but neglected classics will be rediscovered and reprinted by publishers. Who knows, maybe Quirk will even do one. (!) Enthralling tales of pioneer life, poignant colonial-era poetry, snapshots of antebellum America. There is simply a ton of wonderful yet forgotten literature—by women!—just waiting for today’s readers.
Persephone Books knows this is true. A lovely publisher in the UK, Persephone produces nifty-gifty little paperbacks of 20th-century fiction and nonfiction by forgotten women writers. They have become my favorite press. Every library should contain at least one Persephone classic. (Mine includes the thriller The Victorian Chaise-Longue.) And each comes with a sweet bookmark. What more could you ask?
If you know of any wonderful old books (in the public domain of course, that is, published before 1923) that you think should be reintroduced to the modern world, contact me. I’d love to hear about them . . . and just maybe set them on the path to a new life.
Read on!
{ M.E.W. }
