Nava Atlas's Blog, page 39

Maureen Daly’s Seventeenth Summer and the Birth of the Teenage Novel

Maureen Daly (1921 – 2006) was an Irish-Born American author and journalist, best known for the novel Seventeenth Summer (1942). Though twenty-one at the time of its publication, she wrote it while in her teens. Originally intended it for adult readers, it drew an enthusiastic audience of teens, and as such, is considered one of the early entries into the genre of Young Adult fiction. This appreciation of Seventeenth Summer is excerpted from Girls in Bloom: Coming of Age in the Mid-20th Century Woman’s Novel  by Francis Booth, reprinted by permission.

The rise of the teenager in the 1940s was accompanied by the rise of the teenage novel: novels written for and about – and even by – teenage girls. The 1940s and 50s saw several series of books by female authors about girls in their “seventeenth summer,” intended to be read by girls of around that age or younger; the exact demographic for the Sub-Deb columns in teen magazines and Betty Cornell’s advice columns.

But unlike the Sub-Debs, these “practically seventeens” are generally not obsessed with their looks, their school peer group, their figure, or with dating boys; the girls in these novels  are mostly bookish and shy – like, presumably, the girls who read them – though they often have more glamorous and more extroverted older sisters.

And, unlike the central characters in the more literary novels intended for adults that we are considering, the girls in these books usually have normal, loving, middle-class, middle-American parents, with whom they tend not to have angst-ridden, existential conflicts. The father is usually employed in a respectable job and the mother stays at home cooking and baking and so tends to be slightly overweight and homely, giving her daughters a comfortable shoulder to cry on.

 

Starting with “Fifteen” and “Sixteen”

One of the earliest examples of this genre was the short story “Sixteen” by Maureen Daly – later the editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal’s Sub-Deb column – which won first prize in a short story competition in 1938 when Daly was herself sixteen and still at school; the previous year she had entered a story called “Fifteen” and won third prize.

The narration foreshadows the knowing, conspiratorial tone of many of the subsequent novels about sixteen-year-old girls, many of which were influenced by it. The unnamed narrator is confident, modern, and independent; like some of her successors (and of course Cinderella), she has two older sisters as better or worse role models.

“Now don’t get me wrong. I mean, I want you to understand from the beginning that I’m not so really dumb. I know what a girl should do and what she shouldn’t. I get around. I read. I listen to the radio. And I have two older sisters. So, you see, I know what the score is … I’m not exactly small-town either. I read Winchell’s column.

You get to know what New York boy is that way about some pineapple Princess on the West Coast and what Paradise pretty is currently the prettiest. It gives you that cosmopolitan feeling. And I know that anyone who orders a strawberry sundae in a drugstore instead of a lemon Coke would probably be dumb enough to wear colored ankle-socks with high-heeled pumps or use Evening in Paris with a tweed suit. But I’m sort of drifting. This isn’t what I wanted to tell you. I just wanted to give you that the general idea of how I’m not so dumb. It’s important that you understand that.”

The narrator is ice-skating when a boy comes up and says, “Mind if I skate with you?” She agrees. “That’s all there was to it. Just that and then we were skating. It wasn’t that I’d never skated with a boy before. Don’t be silly. I told you before, I get around. But this was different. He was a big shot at school and he went to all the big dances and he was the best dancer in town.”

Afterward, walking home in the snow they talk, softly, “as if every little word were secret… A very respectable Emily Post sort of conversation and then finally – how nice I looked with snow in my hair and had I ever seen the moon so close?” As he leaves her at her door the boy says he will call her.

“And that was last Thursday. Tonight is Tuesday. Tonight is Tuesday and my homework is done and I darned some stockings that didn’t really need it, and worked a crossword puzzle, and I listened to the radio and now I’m just sitting. I’m sitting because I can’t think of anything, anything but snowflakes and ice skates and the yellow moon and Thursday night. The telephone is sitting on the corner table with its old black face turned to the wall so I can’t see its leer. I don’t even jump when it rings any more. My heart still prays but my mind just laughs …

And so I’m just sitting here and I’m not feeling anything. I’m not even sad because all of a sudden I know. All of a sudden I know. I can sit here now for ever and laugh and laugh and laugh while the tears run salty in the corners of my mouth. For all of a sudden I know. I know what the stars knew all the time – he’ll never never call – never.”

As a sixteen-year-old herself, Daly fully understands and beautifully communicates this life-altering tragedy in a way that no adult novelist could.

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Girls in Bloom by Francis Booth on Amazon*
Girls in Bloom on Amazon UK*
Girls in Bloom in full on Issuu
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Re-introducing Seventeenth Summer

One of the earliest full-length teen girl books of the 1940s, and arguably the first Young Adult novel, is Daly’s first novel, Seventeenth Summer. Since the category did not exist at that time it was issued as an adult novel, though Maureen Daly herself was still – just – a teenager, and still at college when she finished writing it.

It continues the theme of the short story ‘Sixteen’ and foreshadows many of the features of the later books aimed at teenage girls by Rosamond du Jardin and others, with its almost-seventeen narrator whose world consists entirely of her family – conventional middle-class father, mother, and three sisters – her school and her first boyfriend; the novel covers just the summer of their relationship.

It opens rather like Daly’s earlier “Sixteen”: ‘I don’t know just why am telling you all this. Maybe you think I’m being silly. But I’m not, really, because this is important. You see, it was different!’

Of course, it is only important within Angie’s small world and only different compared her previously very limited experience. She says to her date, Jack, “I just want to read a lot and learn everything I can,” but she is just trying to impress him. In return, he says he wants to go to an opera wearing a cape and white gloves, “I don’t know much about music,” he says. “I don’t even like it a lot but I could learn.”

 

Commentary on social class

But Jack’s family is socially one step down from Angie’s and she notices the difference even if he doesn’t. Her mother notices too. “It isn’t that my mother doesn’t like boys, as I explained, but because we are girls and because we are the kind of family who always uses top sheets on the beds and always eat our supper in the dining room and things like that – well, she just didn’t want us to go out with anybody.” Her mother probably reads Ladies Home Journal.

This social difference is put under the microscope the first time Jack comes for dinner. Angie’s older sister Lorraine shows off her knowledge of literature, deliberately – at least in Angie’s mind – to expose Jack; she asks him if he has read various books.

Jack looked at her in her embarrassment and his lips were awkward with his words. “I don’t read much,” he confessed and my heart slipped down a little “I don’t read at all as much as I’d like to,” he went on, “but, gee, with school and everything …” He looked at her in apology and then at me, adding feebly, ‘“ play a lot of basketball and things …”

Angie defends him, but only in her mind, she does not speak up in his defense. Her sisters do not realize, she thinks, that “he could dance to any kind of music at all, fast or slow, and that any girl in town would be glad to wear his basketball sweater even for one night.” But the disastrous meal is soon made even worse by Jack’s eating habits and even Angie starts to look down on him.

“In our house where we had never been allowed to eat untidily, even when we sat in highchairs! It all seemed so suddenly and sickeningly clear – I could just see his father in shirtsleeves, piling food onto his knife and never using napkins except where there was company. And probably they brought the coffee pot right in and set it on the table.

My whole mind was filled with a growing disdain and loathing. His family probably didn’t even own a butter knife! No girl has to stand for that. Never. If a boy gets red in the face, sputters salad dressing on the tablecloth, and hasn’t even read a single book to talk about when you ask him over for dinner, you don’t have to be nice to him – even if he has kissed you and said things to you that no one has ever said before!”

Maureen Daly became a journalist after leaving college – she graduated in English and Latin – working as a reporter and book reviewer on the Chicago Tribune and Saturday Evening Post as well as at one point editing the Sub-Deb column at the Ladies’ Home Journal. But, despite the success of Seventeenth Summer, which sold over a million copies, and was reissued in 2002, Daly wrote no more novels until the mid-1980s.

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Seventeenth Summer on Bookshop.org*
Seventeenth Summer on Amazon*
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More about Maureen Daly

Wikipedia New York Times Obituary Celebrating Maureen Daly in Fond du Lac

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Contributed by Francis Booth,* the author of several books on twentieth century culture:

Amongst Those Left: The British Experimental Novel 1940-1960 (published by Dalkey Archive); Everybody I Can Think of Ever: Meetings That Made the Avant-Garde;  Girls in Bloom: Coming of Age in the Mid-Twentieth Century Woman’s Novel; Text Acts: Twentieth Century Literary Eroticism; and Comrades in Art: Revolutionary Art in America 1926-1938

Francis has also published several novels: The Code 17 series, set in the Swinging London of the 1960s and featuring aristocratic spy Lady Laura Summers; Young adult fantasy series The Watchers; and  Young adult fantasy novel Mirror Mirror. Francis lives on the South Coast of England. He is currently working on High Collars and Monocles: Interwar Novels by Female Couples.

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*These are Amazon Affiliate links. If a product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

The post Maureen Daly’s Seventeenth Summer and the Birth of the Teenage Novel appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

Sylvia Beach: Legendary Paris Bookseller and Publisher

Sylvia Beach (1887 – 1962) was the legendary owner of the legendary bookshop Shakespeare and Company the meeting place for all of literary Paris in the 1920s, and the publisher of James Joyce’s Ulysses in 1922. This musing on her active years in literary Paris is excerpted from Everybody I Can Think Of Ever: Meetings That Made the Avant-Garde by Francis Booth, reprinted by permission.

Beach wrote her own résumé towards the end of her life in a letter dated April 23, 1951, to the American Library in post-war Paris, when she donated the remaining books from Shakespeare and Company to them.

“I am the daughter of the late Rev. Sylvester Woodbridge Beach who was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey:

Opened an American bookshop-lending library on the left bank, Paris in 1919 – called Shakespeare and Company: which was rather famous as a result of writers. Some of those who were connected with it from the beginning and as you might say grew up with it, were Robert McAlmon, Ernest Hemingway, Thornton Wilder, Scott Fitzgerald, Archibald McLeish, Kay Boyle – to name only a few: their elders were Sherwood Anderson, Gertrude Stein, T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Ezra Pound.

Shakespeare and Company brought out James Joyce’s Ulysses in 1922, which had been suppressed in the United States, Ireland, and England.”

Beach’s partner, Adrienne Monnier, had her own, French-language, bookshop across the street, La Société des Amis du Livre [The Society of Friends of the Book]. Monnier published her own French-language literary magazine Le Navire d’Argent [The Silver Ship] and published the French translation of Ulysses. It was not just writers who haunted Sylvia’s bookshop: the American composer Virgil Thomson ‘often loafed at Sylvia Beach’s shop, where I had the privilege of borrowing books free;’ Thomson contrasts the two women in his autobiography.

“If angular Sylvia, in her boxlike suits, was Alice in Wonderland at forty, pink and white, buxom Adrienne in her grey-blue uniform, bodiced, with peplum and a long full skirt, was a French milkmaid from the 18th-century.”

 

Adrienne Monnier

Adrienne had her bookshop on the Rue d l’Odéon first; that was where she met Sylvia, who had moved from New Jersey to Paris via Spain in 1917.

Beach had found a reference in the National Library to a volume of verse by Paul Fort and was told the book could be purchased at A. Monnier’s bookshop at Rue d l’Odéon. She did not know the district but set out across the Seine to find it. As soon as she entered the street it reminded her of the colonial houses in Princeton, where she had grown up.

She peered in through the shop window, excitedly looking at the “shelves containing volumes in the glistening ‘crystal paper’ overcoats that French books wear while waiting, often for a long time, to be taken to the binders,” In her autobiography, Shakespeare and Company, Beach described their first meeting.

“At a table sat a young woman. A. Monnier herself, no doubt. As I hesitated at the door, she got up quickly and opened it, and, drawing me into the shop, greeted me with much warmth. This was surprising in France, where people are as a rule reserved with strangers, but I learned that it was characteristic of Adrienne Monnier, particularly if the strangers were Americans.

I was disguised in a Spanish cloak and hat, but Adrienne knew at once that I was American. ‘I like America very much,’ she said. I replied that I liked France very much. And, as our future collaboration proved, we meant it.”

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Everybody I Can Think of Ever on Amazon U.S.*
Everybody I Can Think of Ever on Amazon U.K*
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Beach was still standing by the open door when the wind blew her hat into the middle of the street. Adrienne rushed after it, “going very fast for a person in such a long skirt. She pounced on it just as it was about to be run over, and, after brushing it off carefully, handed it to me. Then we both burst out laughing.”

Sylvia describes Adrienne at that time as “stoutish, her coloring fair, almost like a Scandinavian’s, her cheeks pink, her hair straight and brushed back from her fine forehead. Most striking were her eyes. They were blue-grey and slightly bulging, and reminded me of William Blake’s. She looked extremely alive.” They started to talk about books, immediately became friends and later lovers, a partnership that lasted until Adrienne’s death and survived Sylvia opening her own bookshop across the street.

Another New Jersey native, the poet William Carlos Williams first met Adrienne when he visited Shakespeare and Company in 1924 while on a trip to Paris with his wife; he found her “extremely cordial.”

“Adrienne Monnier, a woman completely unlike Sylvia, very French, very solid, whose earthy appetites, from what she told us, made her seem to stand up to her very knees in heavy loam, came in from across the street to make our acquaintance. Somehow we got to talking of Breughel, whose grotesque work she loved – the fish swallowing a fish that itself was swallowing another.

She enjoyed the thought, she said, of pigs screaming as they were being slaughtered, contempt for the animal – a woman toward whom it was strange to see the mannishly dressed Sylvia so violently drawn. Adrienne gave no quarter to any man.

Once, when Bob [McAlmon] in a taxi had taken her in his arms and kissed her, she sunk her teeth into his lips so that he expected to have a piece torn out before she released him. A woman, however, of unflinching kindness.”

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Gertrude Stein

One of Shakespeare and Company’s earliest visitors was art collector and avant-garde writer Gertrude Stein. In The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, speaking in her partner Alice’s voice, she describes how they first encountered it.

“Someone told us, I have forgotten whom, that an American woman had started a lending library of English books in our quarter. We had in those days of economy given up Mudie’s, but there was the American Library which supplied us a little, but Gertrude Stein wanted more. We investigated and we found Sylvia Beech [sic]. Sylvia Beech was very enthusiastic about Gertrude Stein and they became friends. She was Sylvia Beech’s first annual subscriber and Sylvia Beech was proportionately proud and grateful.”

But Sylvia wasn’t always so hospitable or so welcoming to strangers, preferring to protect the people she already knew. One writer who got Sylvia’s cold shoulder was Morley Callaghan, a Canadian writer who had been a reporter with Ernest Hemingway in Toronto.

He had gone to Paris knowing Hemingway was there but not knowing how to contact him. He knew of Shakespeare and Company and Sylvia Beach. In That Summer in Paris Callaghan tells the story of how he went there, hoping she would put the two writers in touch again. She didn’t.

“Approaching the desk, I introduced myself and wondered if she could give me Hemingway’s address. Without batting an eyelash, she told me she wasn’t sure whether Hemingway was in town, nor if he were, whether she would be able to locate him before she heard from him. But if I would leave my own address she would make an effort to see that it was passed on.”

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James Joyce and Ulysses

Callaghan suspected Beach was not going to pass his details to Hemingway and he was right. She was so protective of her flock that one day, when James Joyce was in the back of the shop, the Irish writer George Moore appeared, looking for him. She told him she didn’t know where Joyce was. Joyce was very upset; he had never met Moore and very much wanted to.

Beach remembers, in Shakespeare and Company, her first meeting with Joyce in the summer of 1920, when her bookshop was in its first year; Beach had had A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in the window of her shop not long before and she loved Joyce’s writing. They met at the apartment of a poet friend, André Spire, at 34, Rue du Bois de Boulogne. Joyce had not been invited or expected but her host whispered to her: “The Irish writer James Joyce is here.”

“I worshipped James Joyce, and on hearing the unexpected news that he was present, I was so frightened I wanted to run away, but Spire told me it was the Pounds who had brought the Joyces – we could see Ezra through the open door. I knew the Pounds, so I went in.”

Before the formal meal Sylvia talked to the wives of Ezra Pound – Dorothy Shakespear – and Joyce – Nora Barnacle – but not to the great man himself; Spire sat them all down for supper before she had a chance to meet him. Afterwards she went into “a little room lined to the ceiling with books.”

“Trembling, I asked: ‘is this the great James Joyce?’
      ‘James Joyce,’ he replied.
       We shook hands; that is, he put his limp, boneless hand in my tough little paw – if you can call that a handshake.

He was of medium height, thin, slightly stooped, graceful. One noticed his hands. They were very narrow. On the middle and third fingers of the left hand, he wore rings, the stones in heavy settings. His eyes, a deep blue, with the light of genius in them, were extremely beautiful. I noticed, however, that the right eye had a slightly abnormal look and that the right lens of his glasses was thicker than the left.

His hair was thick, sandy-colored, wavy, and brushed back from a high, lined forehead over his tall head. He gave an impression of sensitiveness exceeding any I had ever known. His skin was fair, with a few freckles, and rather flushed. On his chin was a sort of goatee. His nose was well shaped, his lips narrow and fine-cut. I thought he must have been very handsome as a young man.”

“What do you do?” Joyce asked her. She told him about her bookshop; he seemed amused by both her name and the name of the shop. “Taking a small notebook out of his pocket and, as I noticed with sadness, holding it very close to his eyes, he wrote down the name and address. He said he would come to see me.” He did, and the rest is history.

But publishing Ulysses didn’t only drain Sylvia Beach’s energy, time, and money; because of Ulysses’ supposed salaciousness, she also got a reputation as a publisher of erotica. Other publishers approached her, including Jack Kahane of the Obelisk Press, which specialized in the salacious, printing racy, English-language books in Paris for ex-service personnel to take back to Britain and America where they would have been banned.

“Mr. Kahane used to drive up in his convertible Voisin, a sort of glass-enclosed station wagon, for a chat with his colleague at Shakespeare and Company. He would ask, ‘how’s God?’ (meaning Joyce). He admired me ‘no end’ for my discovery of such an ‘obscene’ book, as he termed it, as Ulysses, and never relinquished the hope of persuading me one day to let the Obelisk Press take it over.”

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Henry Miller & Anais Nin
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Henry Miller & Anäis Nin

Writers also approached Beach directly, hoping she would do for them what she had done for Joyce. Henry Miller met Jack Kahane, his first publisher, though Sylvia Beach. Beach had first met Miller in her shop when he approached her about the publication of Tropic of Cancer; she suggested that Miller approach Kahane.

Beach remembered that Miller and “that lovely Japanese-looking friend of his, Miss Anaïs Nin,” came in to see if she would publish ‘an interesting novel’ that he had been working on. She told him that Kahane’s Obelisk Press published mainly “the spicy kind of books,” and she didn’t, even though, after Ulysses everyone thought she did.

According to Beach, Kahane was “fond of a certain forthright sexiness,” works that combined “literary and sex value” and might be interested. He was. Kahane’s logo was an obelisk standing on a book, the phallic implications of which were unlikely to have been coincidental.

Miller was not the first writer of racy literature to approach Sylvia Beach after the success of Ulysses, which was mainly known by hearsay; most people hadn’t actually read it and only knew it by its sordid reputation. DH Lawrence approached her, as did the roguish, sexist Frank Harris.

“Writers flocked to Shakespeare and Company on the assumption that I was going to specialize in erotica. They brought me their most erotic efforts. And not only that; they insisted on reading the passages that couldn’t, they thought, fail to tempt a person with my supposed tastes. For instance, there was the small man with whiskers who drove up to the bookshop in a carriage – a barouche and pair hired for the occasion to impress me, as he afterward confessed.

His long arms swinging apelike in front of him, he walked into the shop, deposited on my table a parcel that had the look of a manuscript, and introduced himself as Frank Harris. I had liked his book, The Man Shakespeare. I had also liked the volume on Wilde, and especially Shaw’s preface about Wilde’s gigantism. So had Joyce.

I asked Harris what his manuscript was about. He undid the parcel and showed me a thing called My Life and Loves, which he assured me went much further than Joyce. He claimed he was really the only English writer who had got ‘under a woman’s skin.”

He really hadn’t. Sylvia sent Harris to Jack Kahane, who published My Life and Loves, which is an awful work. But, through Sylvia Beach’s introduction Kahane also published Miller’s Tropic of Cancer, though not without some ‘help’ – financial and possibly sexual – from Anaïs Nin.

According to Kahane’s son, Maurice Girodias, later the publisher of “dirty books” himself, Miller sent Nin to Kahane to seduce Kahane into publishing it; he had already made her seduce his literary agent. Henry was Anaïs’s pimp, said Girodias. “But at least he was a literary pimp.”

Miller sent her to Kahane “in person, duly perfumed, and instructed her to go the whole way if called upon to do so.” We don’t know what happened when they met, neither of them recorded it. But either way, Kahane simply didn’t have the resources and in the end it was Nin’s money rather than her sexual willingness that got Miller’s Tropic of Cancer published by Obelisk in 1934, with a preface by Anaïs Nin.

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Shakespeare and Company in present day Paris is in name only;
not the same establishment started by Sylvia Beach
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Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway, like many impoverished writers in Paris, used Sylvia Beach’s bookshop Shakespeare and Company as a lending library. He remembers it as a “lovely, warm, cheerful place with a big stove in winter, tables and shelves of books, new books in the window and photographs on the wall of famous writers both dead and living.”

“Sylvia had a lively, very sharply cut face, brown eyes that were as alive as a small animal’s and as gay as a young girl’s, and wavy brown hair that was brushed back from her fine forehead and cut thick below her ears and at the line of the collar of the brown velvet jacket she wore. She had pretty legs and she was kind, cheerful, and interested, loved to make jokes and gossip. No one that I ever knew was nicer to me.

I was very shy when I first went into the bookshop and I did not have enough money on me to join the rental library. She told me I could pay the deposit any time I had the money and made me out a card and said I could take as many books as I wished.

There was no reason for her to trust me. She did not know me and the address I had given her, 74 Rue Cardinal Lemoine, could not have been a poorer one. But she was delightful and charming and welcoming and behind her, as high as the wall and stretching out into the back room which gave onto the inner court of the building, were the shelves and shelves of the richness of the library.”

Ernest and Sylvia’s friendship lasted for many years. Much later, Hemingway’s son Bumby (Jack) knew and liked her too; like Joyce, Bumby thought her name was amusing; he called her Silver Beech. Even in those later years, when he was on one of his many trips with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway said he knew it would be “okay to spend more money than he had” because he could always get a loan from Sylvia. Behind every male writer is a literary lady letting him have his say.

More about Sylvia Beach

Sylvia Beach’s Shakespeare and Company, 1919 – 1941 Sylvia Beach Recounts the Founding of Shakespeare and Company The Modernism Lab at Yale When James Joyce Met Sylvia Beach

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Contributed by Francis Booth,* the author of several books on twentieth-century culture:

Amongst Those Left: The British Experimental Novel 1940-1960 (published by Dalkey Archive); Everybody I Can Think of Ever: Meetings That Made the Avant-Garde;  Girls in Bloom: Coming of Age in the Mid-Twentieth Century Woman’s Novel; Text Acts: Twentieth Century Literary Eroticism; and Comrades in Art: Revolutionary Art in America 1926-1938.

Francis has also published several novels: The Code 17 series, set in the Swinging London of the 1960s and featuring aristocratic spy Lady Laura Summers; Young adult fantasy series The Watchers; and  Young adult fantasy novel Mirror Mirror. Francis lives on the South Coast of England. He is currently working on High Collars and Monocles: Interwar Novels by Female Couples.

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*These are Amazon Affiliate links. If a product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

The post Sylvia Beach: Legendary Paris Bookseller and Publisher appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

The Poetry of Loss: An Analysis of “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop

Elizabeth Bishop’s villanelle “One Art” was one of the first poems I read and analyzed at a college level. It’s also one of my favorites. Here is an analysis of “One Art” that can be interpreted from the perspective of wherever the reader is in their own life.

We’ve all, in our unique ways, experienced loss. Countless poems attempt to capture the nature of loss. Elizabeth Bishop was a detail-oriented writer, and the particularity of “One Art” makes the experience of reading it all the more sensitive and meaningful. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind poem.

“One Art” intimately captures the feeling of loss for the reader. Although the poem is mostly autobiographical, it simultaneously acts as a mirror, forcing the reader to reflect on their own losses. This is perhaps why “One Art” is so valuable and memorable. Its relatability makes it difficult to forget.

Elizabeth Bishop experienced loss at an early age. Her father died when she was an infant, and her mother was institutionalized when she was just five years old. Later in her life, Elizabeth lost her spouse to suicide. Intense loss followed her through life.

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Learn more about Elizabeth Bishop
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In “One Art,” Bishop attempts to reject the severity of loss. The poem begins with her intentionally flimsy argument: “The art of losing isn’t hard to master.” Throughout the poem she speaks directly to the reader; as if to say, “Look, if I can lose, you can lose just as well.”

After reading the first stanza, the reader might begin to search through their own life, finding their own “you” to place within Bishop’s words.

From there, we see a buildup of losses, each arguably worse than the last. Bishop begins the poem with losing common, tangible objects, like house keys. She then urges the reader to lose the intangible; like memories and names. Throughout the poem she tries to remind the reader that “their loss is no disaster.” It becomes increasingly difficult to convince even herself of that towards the end. 

Bishop then urges the reader to practice “losing farther, losing faster.” Almost creating a snowball effect of loss within the poem, in the next few stanzas she begins losing bigger things; her mother’s watch, the cities she lived and loved.

The final stanza is intentionally flustered. Bishop eventually describes the hardest loss, that of a loved one, seeming to speak directly to them.

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One Art

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

— Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

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Elizabeth Bishop wasn’t a particularly prolific writer. Finishing only around a hundred poems in her lifetime, she was quite particular, and her poems were calculated. Her poignant nature reveals something about her intentions within “One Art” — the pieces that appear discomposed are wholly deliberate. She was trying to appear unpolished.

In the last line of the poem, she repeats the word “like” twice. This wasn’t an accident, but rather, an attempt to physically reveal her dissonance within the poem. She is trying to tell the reader, “the art of losing is hard to master.”

I see this poem in my own life, through my own losses. As I write this, I’m sitting in my empty college apartment, actively practicing the art of losing. It’s universally relatable. Elizabeth Bishop simply stated what we all feel. We all want to master the art of losing, even though it never gets easier. She knew this; we all do. That’s what makes the poem so easy to cherish.

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See also: 8 Iconic Poems by Elizabeth Bishop
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More information and sources

Poets Poetry Foundation A Conversation with Elizabeth Bishop Alone with Elizabeth Bishop It’s Always a Good Time to Revisit the Brilliance of Elizabeth Bishop

Visit and research

Elizabeth Bishop House and Society of Nova Scotia The Elizabeth Bishop Papers at Vassar College

Contributed by Jess Mendes, a 2021 graduate of SUNY-New Paltz with a major in Digital Media Management, and a minor in Creative Writing.

The post The Poetry of Loss: An Analysis of “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

The Poetry of Loss: An analysis of “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop

Elizabeth Bishop’s villanelle “One Art” was one of the first poems I read and analyzed at a college level. It’s also one of my favorites. Here is an analysis of “One Art” that can be interpreted from the perspective of wherever the reader is in their own life.

We’ve all, in our unique ways, experienced loss. Countless poems attempt to capture the nature of loss. Elizabeth Bishop was a detail-oriented writer, and the particularity of “One Art” makes the experience of reading it all the more sensitive and meaningful. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind poem.

“One Art” intimately captures the feeling of loss for the reader. Although the poem is mostly autobiographical, it simultaneously acts as a mirror, forcing the reader to reflect on their own losses. This is perhaps why “One Art” is so valuable and memorable. Its relatability makes it difficult to forget.

Elizabeth Bishop experienced loss at an early age. Her father died when she was an infant, and her mother was institutionalized when she was just five years old. Later in her life, Elizabeth lost her spouse to suicide. Intense loss followed her through life.

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Learn more about Elizabeth Bishop
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In “One Art,” Bishop attempts to reject the severity of loss. The poem begins with her intentionally flimsy argument: “The art of losing isn’t hard to master.” Throughout the poem she speaks directly to the reader; as if to say, “Look, if I can lose, you can lose just as well.”

After reading the first stanza, the reader might begin to search through their own life, finding their own “you” to place within Bishop’s words.

From there, we see a buildup of losses, each arguably worse than the last. Bishop begins the poem with losing common, tangible objects, like house keys. She then urges the reader to lose the intangible; like memories and names. Throughout the poem she tries to remind the reader that “their loss is no disaster.” It becomes increasingly difficult to convince even herself of that towards the end. 

Bishop then urges the reader to practice “losing farther, losing faster.” Almost creating a snowball effect of loss within the poem, in the next few stanzas she begins losing bigger things; her mother’s watch, the cities she lived and loved.

The final stanza is intentionally flustered. Bishop eventually describes the hardest loss, that of a loved one, seeming to speak directly to them.

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One Art

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

— Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

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Elizabeth Bishop wasn’t a particularly prolific writer. Finishing only around a hundred poems in her lifetime, she was quite particular, and her poems were calculated. Her poignant nature reveals something about her intentions within “One Art” — the pieces that appear discomposed are wholly deliberate. She was trying to appear unpolished.

In the last line of the poem, she repeats the word “like” twice. This wasn’t an accident, but rather, an attempt to physically reveal her dissonance within the poem. She is trying to tell the reader, “the art of losing is hard to master.”

I see this poem in my own life, through my own losses. As I write this, I’m sitting in my empty college apartment, actively practicing the art of losing. It’s universally relatable. Elizabeth Bishop simply stated what we all feel. We all want to master the art of losing, even though it never gets easier. She knew this; we all do. That’s what makes the poem so easy to cherish.

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See also: 8 Iconic Poems by Elizabeth Bishop
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More information and sources

Poets Poetry Foundation A Conversation with Elizabeth Bishop Alone with Elizabeth Bishop It’s Always a Good Time to Revisit the Brilliance of Elizabeth Bishop

Visit and research

Elizabeth Bishop House and Society of Nova Scotia The Elizabeth Bishop Papers at Vassar College

Contributed by Jess Mendes, a 2021 graduate of SUNY-New Paltz with a major in Digital Media Management, and a minor in Creative Writing.

The post The Poetry of Loss: An analysis of “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

5 Romantic Fanfiction Tropes We Can Thank Jane Austen For

Not many authors are favored by serious literary scholars and casual readers alike, but Jane Austen is one of the chosen few. Writers continue to be inspired as well, as evidenced by the romantic fanfiction tropes we’ll explore here.

Many have pondered what makes Austen’s oeuvre so beloved by so many; personally, I think a huge part of her enduring relevance is that she popularized a number of classic tropes that we still see and love today, in everything from the erotic novellas of Anaïs Nin to everyone’s favorite rom-coms like Clueless.

You’ll also spot Austen in the more obscure corners of the internet, particularly in fandom. Both Austen titles and fanfiction are known for their romantic plots and protagonists who are set on finding true love — or just as often, those who have it thrust upon them unexpectedly. There’s even an established crossover of the two, with “Jane Austen Fan Fiction” (known to fans as JAFF) growing in popularity with the dawn of the Wattpad era.

But Austen’s favorite tropes are not solely the preserve of JAFF! Fanfiction writers the world over frequently employ classic romance tropes that Austen used in her novels. If you’re curious what these tropes are and how they originally manifested, allow me to name a few key examples.

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#1 – Forbidden love

Many Austen novels feature a romance complicated by external factors, whether that be class differences, disapproving families, or pesky secret fiancées. In Sense and Sensibility, for example, Edward Ferrars is duty-bound to honor his loveless (secret) engagement to childhood sweetheart Lucy Steele, but feels an uncontrollable attraction to the blissfully ignorant Elinor.

This clash between passion and real-world responsibility is an Austen favorite, and her “forbidden love” model has transcended into today’s storytelling, including and especially fanfiction. It’s a timeless dynamic that establishes high stakes and sustains plenty of dramatic tension throughout a tale. Though it might seem a bit predictable, there’s a reason this trope is so popular: it makes for a great story, even if it is a little painting-by-numbers.

Something standing in the way of two lovers not only becomes great fodder for a crisis (or multiple crises) in the story, but also encourages the reader to invest more in the relationship and root for the unlucky pair.

By the conclusion of Sense and Sensibility, we’re desperate for Elinor and Edward to get together — and the fact that Lucy ends up happy anyway is the cherry on top. This is also the aim of the game for lots of fanfiction; if you know your couple has gone through some hardship, their happy ending becomes all the sweeter.

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#2 – Friends to lovers

Common interests, shared understanding, and mutual respect — all to say, friendship — is the basis of any great romance, right? Therefore it’s no surprise that so many of our favorite couples in fanfic follow this arc, starting out as platonic companions before their relationship blossoms into true love. But did you know that Austen pretty much wrote the script on this trope?

Emma, of course, is the quintessential example of the “friends to lovers” dynamic. Leading lady Emma Woodhouse is intent on matchmaking others, but usually leaves a trail of chaos in her wake. Luckily, Mr. Knightley — her brother-in-law, close friend, and confidant — is always by her side to give her some level-headed advice when she’s made yet another unknown blunder in Highbury’s romantic scene.

Eventually Emma realizes her feelings for him, and the story ends in a double marriage: another case of the empathetic Austen whipping up happy endings not just for the main pairing, but for their former prospects as well.

 

#3 – Enemies to lovers

If you’re well-acquainted with the friends to lovers trope, you’ve likely heard of enemies to lovers, too. This one arguably ups the ante, because your protagonists aren’t just moving from liking to really liking each other — they’re going the full 180 degrees. It’s only natural that fanfic writers have a particular penchant for this trope, as it can take on both intense, emotional dimensions and lighthearted frivolity, depending on the writer’s whim.

Not only does this make for great, pacy drama, but enemies to lovers also makes room for a lot of humor as well. Pride and Prejudice is the masterclass on this trope for exactly this reason: Elizabeth and Darcy’s tempestuous relationship has had readers breaking out into laughter and feeling hot under the collar in equal measures for centuries.

Plus, what’s more impressive plot-wise than taking two characters from scorching hatred to ardent admiration and love? If you’re a writer of fanfiction (or any sort of romantic fiction) looking for a narrative challenge, enemies to lovers is the way to go.

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#4 – A misunderstanding

The tropes that resonate most with us are often those that best reflect reality. As much as we might fantasize about it, we all know it’s pretty unusual for two people to go from total disdain to running off into the sunset in just a few scenes, even if it does make for a good story. On the other hand, getting one’s wires crossed — whether from mishearing a conversation or misinterpreting a signal — truly does happen to the best of us.

Jane Austen knew that romance doesn’t always come easy and that, realistically, there should be not-insignificant obstacles and miscommunications standing between every good romance heroine and her HEA. Emma provides a perfect example of this kind of misapprehension in love, with Emma’s mistaken belief that Mr Elton is interested in her chosen match for him, Harriet — when in fact, he’s been trying to seduce Emma herself.

Though a misunderstanding can feel insignificant in the moment, it tends to snowball into calamitous consequences in the world of love.

This is what makes it such a fun trope for fanfiction writers to cut their teeth on: a misunderstanding can be taken in so many different (and dramatic) directions. It can function as a great hinge point for a bit of comedy, and continue until a grand crescendo nearer the end of your fiction. But alternatively, it can also be weaponized to frustrate and agonize your readers, if you’re so inclined!

 

#5 – Fools rush in

Are we ever quite so foolish in love as when we are embarking on formative romantic experiences? In Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennett — in line with her naive yet rebellious nature — runs off with the caddish Wickham. As a result, Darcy has to rush in to save her honor, which he does by paying a large sum of money to Wickham to marry Lydia honestly.

These kinds of mishaps can only occur when one member of the party is too foolish (or perhaps lovesick) to see the error of their ways… and this kind of romantic recklessness has been explored in many a fanfic to great effect. The “fools rush in” trope is usually employed as a cautionary tale, but occasionally as a wholehearted celebration of being crazy in love.

Clearly, Jane Austen deserves her title of undisputed queen of romance tropes — and if you’ve ever inadvertently used any of these in your own creative writing, you now know who to thank.

Contributed by Savannah Cordova, a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects indie authors with the world’s best publishing professionals. In her spare time, Savannah enjoys reading fiction and writing short stories. She’s a big fan of Jane Austen and fanfiction alike.

See more writing advice inspired by classic women authors here on Literary Ladies Guide.

The post 5 Romantic Fanfiction Tropes We Can Thank Jane Austen For appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

Wilma Rudolph, Groundbreaking Athlete for the Ages — in Pages

Wilma Rudolph (1940 – 1994) was a groundbreaking American Olympic champion in the field of running. As the most visible and famed Black female athlete of time, she inspired generations who came after her. Running was her passion, and she became an icon in the civil rights and women’s rights movements as well.

Books about Wilma Rudolph continue to tell her story, most aimed at younger readers who draw inspiration from her remarkable life. Here, we’ll take a look at some of them, starting with her own 1977 autobiography, Wilma. In this slim but action-packed volume she told the story of how she, a Black woman athlete facing many obstacles, won both in life and in the toughest sports competitions in the world. She has the distinction of being the first American ever to take home three gold medals from a single Olympics.

From the publisher’s description of Wilma: The Story of Wilma Rudolph —

She ran against the clock and against the odds. She was twentieth of twenty-two children in her family. At six, her leg was in a brace from a series of childhood illnesses.By the time she was sixteen, she was running in the Olympics — winning a Bronze medal.At eighteen, she was the mother of a child — and her athletic career seemed over.Two  years later, she was racing for America in the Olympics once more — and making history.

Her autobiography was adapted to a made for TV film starring Cicely Tyson in the title role. Wilma encapsulated the soaring highs and unfair aspects of her storied career:

“I’m proud of what I did. No matter what, I was the first American woman to win three Olympic gold medals I was the first of twenty-two kids in my family to go to college. I was the only woman in history to pack Madison Square Garden in New York, the Forum in Los Angeles, and a lot of other places for track meets. People came to see me run. But the promoters make all of the money, not me. I was strictly an amateur, in more ways than one.”

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Wilma also acknowledged the Black women athletes who came before her — track stars Alice Coachman and Mildred McDaniels, whose names are scarcely known today. In turn, she became a great role model for Black female runners and other athletes who have come after her.

Wilma’s autobiography is quite hard to come by; check your local library system! If you can’t find it, you can learn more about Wilma in the generous selection of biographies telling her stories, and in anthologies of female athletes that she’s part of.  The following listing is just a sampling.

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We Got Game! by Aileen Weintraub (2021)

We Got Game! 35 Female Athletes Who Changed the World (2021) is a lively book in which Wilma Rudolph shares the spotlight with a slew of other trailblazing athletes.

From the publisher: Inspire kids to be their best selves and get involved in social change with this stunning anthology about thirty-five amazing women in sports around the world and throughout history. Illustrated by Sarah Green. This excerpt is from the book’s section on Wilma Rudolph:

“Even as a heroine, Wilma faced racism. The press reported her wins using racist terms and stereotypes. When her hometown set up a parade in her honor, she refused to attend because it was segregated. With her insistence, local officials finally agreed that everyone could celebrate together. It became the first integrated event in her town.

When she retired at the age of twenty-two, Wilma became a school teacher. She spent the rest of her life protesting and fighting to end segregation laws. She also founded the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, which helped support underserved athletes throughout the United States. Wilma died of cancer at the age of fifty-four. This trailblazing athlete will always be known for defying the the odds, fighting racism, and inspiring others to stand up for what’s right.”

For ages 8 to 12.

We Got Game on Bookshop.org*
We Got Game on Amazon*

 

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Wilma Rudolph by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara (2019)

In this book from the critically acclaimed, multimillion-copy best-selling Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of the remarkable sprinter and Olympic champion. Illustrated by Amelia Flower.

From the publisher: At school, Wilma showed a talent for basketball and sprinting, earning the nickname “Skeeter” (mosquito) as she ran so fast. Wilma was in college when she went to the 1960 Olympics. She not only won gold in sprint events, but also broke world records with her sprinting skill. She is a huge inspiration to many women in sports around the world. This moving book features stylish and quirky illustration and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the athlete’s life.

For ages 4 to 7.

Wilma Rudolph on bookshop.org*
Wilma Rudolph on Amazon*

 

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Women in Sports by Rachel Ignotofsky (2017)

Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win, illustrated by the author, features profiles of fifty pioneering female athletes.

From the publisher: A richly illustrated and inspiring book, Women in Sports highlights the achievements and stories of fifty notable women athletes from the 1800s to today, including trailblazers, Olympians, and record-breakers in more than forty sports. The athletes featured include well-known figures like tennis player Billie Jean King and gymnast Simone Biles, as well as lesser-known champions like Toni Stone, the first woman to play baseball in a professional men’s league, and of course, Wilma Rudolph.

For ages 10 to 17.

Women in Sports on Bookshop.org*
Women in Sports on Amazon*

 

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Wilma Rudolph, Track and Field Champion
by Adrianna Morganelli (2016)

From the publisher of the Remarkable Lives Revealed series: When doctors told her parents that she may never walk again, no one could have imagined that Wilma Rudolph would grow up to become the world’s fastest woman. This book shows how young Wilma used her inner strength to overcome physical disabilities caused by polio to win three gold medals for the USA in track and field at the 1960 Olympics.

For ages 8 to 12.

Wilma Rudolph, Track and Field Champion on Bookshop.org*
Wilma Rudolph, Track and Field Champion on Amazon*

 

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Wilma Rudolph by Victoria Sherrow
(On My Own Biographies, 2000)

From the publisher: In 1946, six-year-old Wilma Rudolph dreamed of walking and playing like other children, but a sickness called polio had damaged her left leg. Wilma spent hours each week doing painful exercises at a hospital for African American patients. The rest of the time, she was forced to wear a heavy and cumbersome leg-brace.

Still, Wilma never gave up. She knew she could walk again, and if she could walk, maybe she could run. Author Victoria Sherrow tells how Wilma Rudolph’s determination led her to the 1956 and 1960 Olympics where she gained fame as a champion runner. Larry Johnson’s rich illustrations help to capture this true story of heroic strength and fearlessness.

For ages 7 to 10.

Wilma Rudolph on Bookshop.org*
Wilma Rudolph on Amazon*

 

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Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull (2000)

Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman is the award-winning true story of the Black Olympic runner who overcame childhood polio and eventually went on to win three gold medals. Illustrated by Caldecott medal–winning artist David Diaz.

For Ages 4 to 7.

Wilma Unlimited on Bookshop.org*
Wilma Unlimited on Amazon*

The list above is just a small selection of all the books written about Wilma Rudolph. See more on Bookshop.org!

 

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*This post contains Bookshop Affiliate and Amazon Affiliate links. If a product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

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Rosamond du Jardin and the American Midcentury Teen Novel

Before there was a designated Young Adult category in publishing, Rosamond du Jardin (1902 – 1963) was known for her novels for the teen reader. Once dismissed as formulaic and dated, her novels are getting a second look, especially in gender studies. Literary critic Claudia Mills wrote that “they are illuminating as cultural documents, revealing how the values of their decade were transmitted to young readers via the vehicle of story.”

This re-introduction to du Jardin’s books and heroines is excerpted from Girls in Bloom: Coming of Age in the Mid-20th Century Woman’s Novel by Francis Booth, reprinted by permission.

Rosamond du Jardin had written four adult novels and a large number of light short stories for women’s magazines before she started to write books for the teenage market.

She became very prolific and successful, publishing seventeen young adult novels including four Tobey Haydon books, beginning with Practically Seventeen, from 1949 to 1951; two books about Midge Haydon (Tobey’s younger sister) from 1958 to 1961; four books in the Marcy Rhodes series from 1950 to 1957 and four in the Pam and Penny Howard series from 1950 to 1959. All these have recently been republished as physical and electronic books by specialist publisher Image Cascade.

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Tobey Haydon: Practically Seventeen (1949)

‘My name is Tobey Haydon and I am practically seventeen years old, since my sixteenth birthday was five whole months ago.’

According to Tobey she is, ‘older than my sixteen years in lots of ways, I think.’ This of course is how most sixteen-year-olds feel, including the fictional ones. Tobey (note the gender-ambivalent name) begins by introducing herself and her family, including her sisters and her ‘fairly modern’ parents:

“Ours is quite a large family, as families go nowadays. First there are my mother and father, who are pretty old, in their 40s. Still they are fairly modern in their ideas. My father is tall and thinnish and has a pleasant face with lots of laugh wrinkles. He claims that any man, completely surrounded by females in his own home, would go crazy without a sense of humor and that he has had to develop his in self defense.

Sometimes his wit is a little corny, as is often the case with older people. But none of us mind. He is really sweet, as fathers go. My mother is very well satisfied with him, too. Her only complaint is that his job as a salesman of plumbing supplies takes him away from home on occasional out-of-town trips, during which time she seems to miss him very much indeed.

My mother thinks she is overweight and she is always talking about dieting and losing ten pounds, although compared with the mothers of some of my friends she has a very nice figure.”

Tobey has two older sisters; they are horrid to her; she acts as a kind of Cinderella to them, though the sisters are by no means ugly – as well as a younger sister. Janet, the oldest, is twenty-three with ‘dark red hair and very blue eyes and the kind of figure that rates admiring whistles on street corners,’ though she is married and has a baby known as Toots, ‘a bundle of fiendish energy aged three,’ who is living with the family while Janet’s husband is working away.

Next is her sister Alicia, who is ‘twenty and beautiful, if you care for blondes.’ Alicia, who has just got engaged, is mean and spiteful to Tobey and ‘hasn’t a smidgen of a sense of humor, although how this can be true of one of my father’s daughters is difficult to see.’ Finally, Tobey has:

“… Quite a young sister named Marjorie, but inevitably called Midge. She has a lot more freckles than I, sandy hair that she wears braided in pigtails, and skinny legs. She may improve, though, as she gets older. Right now she is only eight and my father frequently refers to her as The After-thought, this being an example of one of his more corny jokes.”

The recently-engaged Alicia and her fiancé are ‘always kissing. Now I personally, have nothing against this form of amusement, particularly for engaged couples. Still I should think they might want to do something else for a change now and then.’ Tobey does not specify, indeed does not appear to know, what other things engaged couples might do for a change.

Tobey has a boyfriend called Brose who takes her to the movies but does not apparently do very much else with her; on a date with him she puts on lipstick which she has ‘borrowed’ from one of the sisters but she finds it ‘very difficult to maintain any glamour whatever in a family with so many women around, especially sisters.’ They all, including Midge and her mother, mock Tobey’s attempts to look grown-up.

Tobey, like most of the heroines in this genre, is bookish and serious rather than glamorous and flirtatious. Her mother tries to get her to make more of herself: ‘do stop slumping. You have curvature of the spine.’ But still, Tobey has learned some womanly wiles from her older sisters.

‘Brose is really wonderful. I wouldn’t admit this publicly, because it doesn’t pay to let your true opinion of a man get around. Either it goes to his head, or some of your girlfriends decide to try to take him away from you if he’s that terrific. But I am pretty crazy about Brose.’

Tobey certainly does not want to rush into marriage; she has the example of Janet, at twenty-four, who ‘sees life sort of passing her by and her husband’s faraway and she is growing old and older and what does the future hold for her?’ What indeed.

The Tobey and Midge Heydon series

Practically SeventeenClass RingBoy TroubleThe Real ThingWedding in the FamilyOne of the Crowd

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Marcy Rhodes: Wait for Marcy, 1950

Marcy is a tomboy. But for Christmas her grandmother has bought her – at Marcy’s request – a white net ‘formal,’ a dress to be worn to parties or other formal occasions; another Cinderella reference perhaps (Disney’s film of Cinderella appeared in 1950, too late for du Jardin to have seen it before she wrote these last two novels; Marcia Brown’s popular, illustrated retelling of Perrault’s version of the story was not published until 1955).

Marcy does not really do parties and has never worn the dress. As the novel opens she is sitting:

“… Sprawled comfortably crosswise in a slipcovered chair, deeply engrossed in her favorite magazine. The white shirt she wore had long since been discarded by her father, her blue jeans were deeply cuffed. Floppy moccasins hung from her toes. At fifteen Marcy was dark and slim, with brown hair curled under in a soft bell. Hers were the sort of looks that might easily develop into real loveliness as she grew older.”

Still, despite her tomboyish dress sense, Marcy envies her best friend’s looks; she ‘would gladly have traded high cheek bones, wide dark eyes and golden tan skin for the blonde, blue-eyed prettiness possessed by her closest friend, Liz Kendall.’

Unlike Tobey and Cinderella, Marcy has no sisters, though she does have an older brother, Ken. Older brothers of course are an annoyance, always seeking to embarrass their sister, though Betty Cornell advised that ‘an older brother is about the best social insurance any teen-ager can have.’

Like Tobey’s, Marcy’s mother is ‘an agreeable-looking woman, just verging on plumpness, whose fair hair was only lightly frosted with grey.’ Also like Tobey, she considers that her parents, ‘on the whole, were fairly reasonable,’ though not when her mother starts urging her to go to the school dance, if only so she can wear the formal dress.

“Marcy felt a sick sort of sensation in her tummy. The very first suitable occasion. A dance in the big gym at High, with paper festoons and the lights softened and all the couples, all the girls and their dates, whirling and swaying to just the sort of music that was coming from the radio now. Her lovely white formal would fit into the picture perfectly. But before she could wear it, before she could be a part of the entrancing seen in her mind, someone – who, she wondered if little desperately? – would have to invite her to go with him.

Grow up, why don’t you? That was what Ken had said just now. Marcy was trying, but in some respects it wasn’t easy.”

The Marcy Rhodes series

Wait for MarcyMarcy Catches UpA Man for MarcySenior Prom

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Penny and Pam Howard: Double Date (1951)

Penny and Pam Howard are twin sisters but have very different personalities; authors of teen novels often use the device of a sister or best friend with an opposite personality to the protagonist; usually she is shy and bookish while the sister/friend is glamorous and popular. The four Penny and Pam novels, though written in the third person, are seen from the perspective of Penny, the introvert.

Pam is outgoing and popular, a Sub-Deb who has read and digested Betty Cornell’s advice. Although they are physically identical, Penny is less gregarious, more shy and reticent. When we see the twins at home, ‘Penny had been intent on her homework, curled on the couch, surrounded by books. Pam had been lying in front of the record-player, dreamily listening to Perry Como.’ Du Jardin gives us access to Penny’s thoughts while Pam is chatting to two boys they have just met:

How could twin sisters, who looked so much alike that most people couldn’t tell them apart, be so unlike inside? She had pondered the question many times before and found no answer. How could Pam chat on so animatedly, so effortlessly, keeping these boys she scarcely knew interested and amused, instilling in them a desire to get better acquainted?   

Penny could think of nothing at all to add to Pam’s running comments. Beside her sister she felt leaden and dull and miserably aware of the poor impression she was making. Trudging along with the others, penny spoke only when spoken to directly. Casual, friendly talk eddied about her like a warm current, while she contributed little more than monosyllables. Not that the others seemed to notice. Pam’s voice filled any void that might otherwise have been left by Penny’s silence.

Rosamond du Jardin has presumably chosen to focus on the socially-awkward twin deliberately – she probably assumed, and probably correctly, that teenage girls who read novels like hers rather than Ladies Home Journal columns would themselves be socially awkward and identify more with Penny than Pam, the girl curled up on the couch surrounded by books rather than the girl dreamily listening to crooners. Read in another way of course, Penny is Pam’s alter ego, the girl she wants to be, the girl she – and her readers – aspire to be.

The Penny and Pam Howard series

Double DateDouble FeatureShowboat SummerDouble Wedding

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Girls in Bloom by Francis Booth on Amazon*
Girls in Bloom on Amazon UK*
Girls in Bloom in full on Issuu
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The decline of the teen novel

Interestingly, the decline of the teen novel coincided with the decline of the crooner. Perry Como (who was old enough to be Penny and Pam’s father) was superseded by the likes of Ladies Home Journal’s columnist Pat Boone, born in 1934, but he was already one of the last of a generation of singers whom teenage girls could listen to with their parents: the same year Boone released his first record, 1954, Elvis Presley was already recording and in 1956 when Presley released Heartbreak Hotel, the era of parent-friendly music was over.

Mothers, and especially fathers, of teenage girls would never again sit round their teenage daughter’s record player singing along with her. Or watch their idols on TV: Elvis’s suggestive gyrations were first seen on the Ed Sullivan show on September 9, 1956, performing Ready Teddy and Hound Dog to the horror of parents all across America.

Elvis was paid $50,000 for three appearances on the show; the first reached 82.6% of the American TV audience. By his third appearance protests from concerned parents ensured that he was filmed only from the waist up. But it was too late; teenage rebellion had begun and teenage girls began to stop wanting to listen to music with their mothers, let alone become them.

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Rosamond du Jardin page on Amazon*
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Contributed by Francis Booth,* the author of several books on twentieth century culture:

Amongst Those Left: The British Experimental Novel 1940-1960 (published by Dalkey Archive); Everybody I Can Think of Ever: Meetings That Made the Avant-Garde;  Girls in Bloom: Coming of Age in the Mid-Twentieth Century Woman’s Novel; Text Acts: Twentieth Century Literary Eroticism; and Comrades in Art: Revolutionary Art in America 1926-1938

Francis has also published several novels: The Code 17 series, set in the Swinging London of the 1960s and featuring aristocratic spy Lady Laura Summers; Young adult fantasy series The Watchers; and  Young adult fantasy novel Mirror Mirror. Francis lives on the South Coast of England. He is currently working on High Collars and Monocles: Interwar Novels by Female Couples.

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*These are Amazon Affiliate links. If a product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

The post Rosamond du Jardin and the American Midcentury Teen Novel appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

Diana and Persis — Louisa May Alcott’s Unfinished Novel

Susan Bailey of Louisa May Alcott is My Passion describes Diana and Persis, Louisa May Alcott‘s unfinished novel, as compelling, revealing, biographical, and thus, tragically incomplete:

By the 1870s, Louisa May Alcott and her baby sister May had become close companions. Although quite different in temperament, both shared that burning ambition to become the artists they were meant to be – Louisa as a best-selling author, and May as an acclaimed painter, exhibiting at the Paris Salon.

 

Unearthing a treasure

In the 1970s Alcott scholar Sarah Elbert discovered an untitled manuscript of 138 pages at the Houghton Library at Harvard University. Titling it Diana and Persis, the book was published in 1978. There are a couple of cryptic mentions, first in Louisa’s journal, dated December of 1878:

“ … begin work on an art novel, with May’s romance for its thread.” (page 211, The Journals of Louisa May Alcott, edited by Joel Myerson and Daniel Shealy; Madeleine B. Stern, associate editor).

And in May’s journal, dated January 28, 1879:

“Louisa is at the Bellevue writing her Art story in which some of my adventures will appear.” (page 7, Diana and Persis, edited by Sarah Elbert).

 

Introducing Diana and Persis

The story focuses on two women artists: the elder Diana, a sculptor, modeled somewhat after Louisa; and the younger Persis, modeled after May. Both are dedicated to their art to the exclusion of all else (although Diana appears to be more successful at this than Percy in the beginning as she has renounced marriage and family while Percy is distracted by suitors).

Percy makes the decision to study in Paris, having received financial support from her grandmother. She understands that she is distracted:

“If we give ourselves entirely to art we must trample on Nature occasionally; so in escaping from the lovers who annoy me to the work I prefer I must also turn my back on the last of my kindred and my dearest friend.” (Diana and Persis, page 54)

Diana is encouraged by her friend’s decision despite the fact that the two, close as sisters, will be separated by great distance. Yet she still feels compelled to dispel advice:

“’Don’t look for it [artistic inspiration] in marriage that is too costly an experiment for us. Flee from temptation and do not dream of spoiling your life but any common place romance, I implore you,’ cried Diane earnestly, and this was not the first time she had given the same advice.” (page 57)

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May Alcott Nieriker: Thoroughly Modern Woman
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Persis as May

Despite Percy’s serious ambition, she also desires a husband and children. She wanted it all and was convinced it was doable. She confessed to Diana regarding her “hungry heart” as well as her ambition, admitting that “art alone does not seem to satisfy me as it does you.” (Ibid)

This sounds very much like May.

 

Diana as Louisa

In contrast, Diana echoes what Louisa wished she could be – free to pursue her writing without distraction of family duty, something with which she was continually burdened:

“Denying herself the pleasures of youth, the honors of sex and beauty, the joys of love, the solaces of home, she went on her steadfast way, unresting and unhasting as a star; as cold and brilliant and remote to all except the few who had discovered hidden fires in this fair planet. Bread and the right to work was all she asked of the world as yet. One friendship was the only luxury she allowed herself and in this she found not only the solace but the stimulant she needed, for it was a most sincere and sympathetic bond.” (page 64)

The next three chapters describe the following:

Percy’s success (taken from May’s letters to the family) with her studies and her acceptance into the Paris Salon.Diana’s subsequent visit to Europe and her encounter with a brilliant widowed sculptor, Stafford, and his young son Nino.Diana’s visit with Percy, who has married August and born a child.

 

The visit

Unlike Louisa who was hampered by her responsibilities and health issues, Diana was able to meet Percy’s husband and child and witness her friend’s triumph in “having it all.” Yet at the same time Diana notices signs of Percy being drawn away from her art, witnessing the dusty easel and dried paint on the palette in her studio.

As progressive as husband August appears to be (“I believe a woman can and ought to have both if she has the power and courage to win them” (page 127), there are hints of potential future troubles in competing with Percy’s art as shown through his “neglected” coffee cup, his sense of feeling left out of the bond between the friends, and the use of Baby as a nude model for their paintings. “Unnatural mother! Would you sacrifice your child on the altar of your insatiable art?” (page 124).

 

Not meant to know?

As we will never know the outcome of May Alcott Nieriker’s life due to her untimely death after childbirth, so we shall never know the outcome of Diana and Persis since Louisa would not take up the story again, prostrate with grief over May’s passing. If I didn’t know better, I would say we were not meant to know, the experiment being so progressive that it was too far ahead of its time.

Diana and Persis offers this scenario:

Diana succumbs and marries Stafford and becomes stepmother to Nino. She finds herself becoming a better sculptor despite the competition between married life and motherhood, and art, both of which require all she has to give.August proves in the end to be that progressive husband, equal to Percy and thus she continues to find acclaim as a painter.

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How Louisa May Alcott’s Feminism Explains her Timelessness
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A more likely scenario

Somehow though, I doubt Louisa would create such a “happily ever after” ending, realist as she was, as it would make for a dull read. She had sowed seeds of doubt with Percy and her family, setting the stage for future tension. Anyone who has combined a passion for art, writing or music with raising a family knows how the two passions hotly compete. There is constant warring between the two and plenty of guilt to go along with it.

I get the sense that Diana would have eventually married Stafford but it would have taken a long time for her to accept that she could pursue her art within a happy domestic setting. Stafford delights in Diana’s talent and without pontificating, as August, did, he praises her bold statue of “Saul” (“There is virile force in this, accuracy as well as passion – in short, genius.” – page 103) while reveling in the beautiful and tender likeness of his son in her statue of “Puck.”

 

Grief and art

Two small parts of this story stood out for me, once again revealing the authenticity of Louisa’s writing. A statement by Stafford, who had lost his beloved wife, reveals the effects of grief upon art:

“… the power has gone out of me. My friend, may you never know the awful weariness that comes when the golden apples once has struggled for turn to ashes on the lips.” (page 105)

Having experienced this twice with the deaths of my parents, I know from whence he speaks. Music was my passion at the time; it took two years and much hard work to regain my art once my father passed. When my mother entered hospice, I prayed to God asking him not to resurrect the music if it should die within me. He honored that prayer, giving me time to mourn before slowly restoring it. And in the meantime, of course, I was led to write.

I believe that Louisa, understanding the creative, transforming force of grief, would have restored Stafford’s genius through his relationship with Diana. What a wonderful story of redemption and resurrection that would have been!

 

A modern story

Percy’s story would have so resonated with today’s women who are keenly aware of the struggles of juggling family and career. The competition is keen yet I have to say that although my art was delayed many years due to family responsibilities, I do believe it is better for having gone through the undertaking.

 

One of longing

Finally, this book is filled with the craving Louisa had to live the dedicated life of an artist without all of her family obligations. Tethered by her own sense of duty and hampered by her poor health, the best she could do was to support the sister who could live the dream, and retreat to her imagination in the story of Diana and Persis.

Diana and Persis has all the promise of Little Women with its honesty, heart and keen insight. How unfortunate for all of us that it was not completed. But how lucky too, that the manuscript was discovered and published.

 

Where to find Diana and Persis

You can find Diana and Persis in these forms: Sarah Elbert’s version which I highly recommend because of her opening essay, and also in Alternative Alcott, edited by Elaine Showalter.

 

Further reading

For further reading check out Anne E. Boyd’s book, Writing for Immortality, pages. 109–117, for an analysis of Diana and Persis. For one thing, Boyd reveals yet another unpublished manuscript at Houghton, this one by May herself called An Artist’s Holiday. You can find out more information about that manuscript here.

Originally published on Louisa May Alcott is My Passion. Reprinted by permission.

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*These are Amazon Affiliate links. If the product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

The post Diana and Persis — Louisa May Alcott’s Unfinished Novel appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

Books about Bookshops, Libraries, & Reading for True Bibliophiles

For bibliophiles, it’s not enough to be so obsessed with books that we’re reading four or five works of fiction or nonfiction at any given time. We also love books about bookshops, libraries, and even books about books and reading! This might seem eccentric at first glance, but for the devout book lover, it makes perfect sense.

Here’s a slew of books for book lovers that celebrate the passion for the page. At left, Bibliophile: An Illustrated History by Jane Mount, which kicks off this list.

In this list you’ll find a book about so-called “book towns” around the world; a celebration of libraries; a musing on the art of reading itself; a collection on the thrill of finding rare books; a few books on bookshops, and a book on the joy of  bibliomania. What perfect gifts these make for the book nerds in your life — or for yourself, if you fit that description! 

 

Nonfiction

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Bibliophile: An Illustrated History by Jane Mount

Bibliophile on Bookshop.org*
Bibliophile on Amazon*

A love letter to all things bookish, book people and places are curated by Jane Mount, who illuminates them with the vibrant illustrations she’s known for.

You’ll find literary trivia, see the world’s beautiful bookstores, workplaces of famous authors, and even get a taste of famous fictional meals. Best of all, it’s a wonderful resource for discovering some of the greatest reads ever.

“In this love letter to all things bookish, Jane Mount brings literary people, places, and things to life through her signature and vibrant illustrations … A source of endless inspiration, literary facts and recommendations, Bibliophile is pure bookish joy.”

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Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores:
True Tales and Lost Moments from Book Buyers, Booksellers,
and Book Lovers by Bob Eckstein

Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores on Bookshop.org*
Footnotes from the World’s Greatest Bookstores on Amazon*

From New Yorker cartoonist Bob Eckstein, here’s a collection of 75 gorgeous detailed paintings of some of the world’s most iconic bookstores, served up with the inside scoop about what goes on inside them. Quirky and charming, the anecdotes and stories feature many of today’s most renowned authors and thinkers.Some of these bookstores have gone by the wayside, many, thankfully, are still open for business.

“Page by page, Eckstein perfectly captures our lifelong love affair with books, bookstores, and book-sellers that is at once heartfelt, bittersweet, and cheerfully confessional.” Read an excerpt from this book on this site.

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Book Towns: Forty Five Paradises
of the Printed Word by Alex Johnson

Book Towns on Bookshop.org*
Book Towns on Amazon*

“Book Towns” of the world are hamlets, villages, and towns center on literature and bookshops — in other words, paradises for book lovers.

Book Towns will take you on a tour of the recognized literary towns around the world, with stories of how they grew and offering information on how to get there. But even if you never get to any of them, the beautiful photos and charming stories are perfect for the book-loving armchair traveler.

“Amid the beauty of the Norwegian fjords, among the verdant green valleys of Wales, in the shadow of the Catskill mountains and beyond, publishers and printmakers have banded together to form unique havens of literature.” Read more about Book Towns on this site.

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I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas
of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel

I’d Rather be Reading on Bookshop.org*
I’d Rather Be Reading on Amazon*

I’d Rather Be Reading is a collection of witty reflection that any voracious reader will relate to. Blogger and author Anne Bogel (known for her popular podcast What Should I Read Next?) invites book lovers into a virtual community that’s as cozy as it is fascinating.

“With fascinating new things about books and publishing, and reflect on the role reading plays in their lives. The perfect gift for the bibliophile in everyone’s life, I’d Rather Be Reading will command an honored place on the overstuffed bookshelves of any book lover.”

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I’d Rather be Reading: A Library of Art for Book Lovers 
by Guinevere de la Mare

I’d Rather Be Reading on Bookshop.org*
I’d Rather be Reading on Amazon*

Echoing the title of the previous entry, this gifty book is more visually oriented. From the publisher: For anyone who’d rather be reading than doing just about anything else, this book is the ultimate must-have. In this visual ode to all things bookish, readers will get lost in page after page of beautiful contemporary art, photography, and illustrations depicting the pleasures of books.

Artwork from the likes of Jane Mount, Lisa Congdon, Julia Rothman, and Sophie Blackall is interwoven with text from essayist Maura Kelly, bestselling author Gretchen Rubin, and award-winning author and independent bookstore owner Ann Patchett.

A pocket-sized book of less than 100 pages, it’s rounded out with poems, quotations, and aphorisms celebrating the joys of reading, this lovingly curated compendium is a love letter to all things literary, and the perfect gift for bookworms everywhere.

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Rare Books Uncovered: True Stories of Fantastic Finds
in Unlikely Places by Rebecca Rego Barry

Rare Books Uncovered on Bookshop.org*
Rare Books Uncovered on Amazon*

From the publisher: Feed your inner bibliophile with this volume on unearthed rare and antiquarian books. Few collectors are as passionate or as dogged in the pursuit of their quarry as collectors of rare books. In Rare Books Uncovered, expert on rare and antiquarian books Rebecca Rego Barry recounts the stories of remarkable discoveries from the world of book collecting.

Read about the family whose discovery in their attic of a copy of Action Comics No. 1— the first appearance of Superman — saved their home from foreclosure. Or the Salt Lake City bookseller who volunteered for a local fundraiser — and came across a 500-year-old copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle.

Or the collector who, while browsing his local thrift shop, found a collectible copy of Calvary in China — inscribed by the author to the collector’s grandfather. These tales and many others will entertain and inspire casual collectors and hardcore bibliomaniacs alike.

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The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell

The Bookshop Book on Bookshop.org*
The Bookshop Book on Amazon*

From the publisher: Here’s a book in which the bookshop, even more than the book itself, is the center of curiosity and fascination. Here you’ll  find more than 300 weird and wonderful bookstores around the world, in every form imaginable: shops on buses, in converted churches, abandoned factories, on barges, and even odder places.

You’ll encounter stories of bookshops that moveable, mutable, and that are even folded into vending machines. “From the oldest bookshop in the world, to the smallest you could imagine … The Bookshop Book is a love letter to bookshops all around the world.” From the bestselling author of Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops.

 

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The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

The Diary of a Bookseller on Bookshop.org*
The Diary of a Bookseller on Amazon*

You wouldn’t think that the journals of a bookseller would be so comedic, but The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell is laugh-out-loud-funny. The owner of a used bookstore, appropriately called The Book Shop, Shaun’s story takes place in Wigtown, Scotland.

This rural town was the first of the forty-some odd “Book Towns” compiled into the book of the same name, above. Bythell dishes on how he buys books, how he makes his old-fashioned business thrive in the modern world, and more. The heart of the book is his the hilarious interactions with staff and customers, adding up to an entertaining romp for book nerds. Shaun Bythell is also the author of Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops.

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The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders by Stuart Kells

The Library on Bookshop.org*
The Library on Amazon*

From the publisher: Ancient libraries, grand baroque libraries, scientific libraries, memorial libraries, personal libraries, clandestine libraries: Stuart Kells tells the stories of their creators, their prizes, their secrets, and their fate.

To research this book, Kells traveled around the world with his young family like modern-day ‘Library Tourists.’” So states the description of this book that will surely thrill devoted library lovers.

The Library is a celebration of libraries as places of wonder, and of the physical book as a thing of beauty. And it explores the human element, the very thing that has made libraries enduring institutions in a rapidly changing world. By the author of Shakespeare’s Library: Unlocking the Greatest Mystery in Literature.

 

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The Library Book by Susan Orlean

The Library Book on Bookshop.org*
The Library Book on Amazon*

Susan Orlean has created a wondrous love letter to libraries. From Amazon: “Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before …

Brimming with her signature wit, insight, compassion, and talent for deep research, The Library Book is Susan Orlean’s thrilling journey through the stacks that reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just books—and why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country. It is also a master journalist’s reminder that, perhaps especially in the digital era, they are more necessary than ever.”

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The Card Catalog: Books, Cards, and Literary Treasures
by The Library of Congress

The Card Catalog on Bookshop.org*
The Card Catalog on Amazon*

From the publisher: The Library of Congress brings book lovers an enriching tribute to the power of the written word and to the history of our most beloved books. Featuring more than 200 full-color images of original catalog cards, first edition book covers, and photographs from the library’s magnificent archives, this collection is a visual celebration of the rarely seen treasures in one of the world’s most famous libraries and the brilliant catalog system that has kept it organized for hundreds of years.

Packed with engaging facts on literary classics — from Ulysses to The Cat in the Hat to Shakespeare’s First Folio to The Catcher in the Rye — this package is an ode to the enduring magic and importance of books.

 

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Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks
by Annie Spence

Dear Fahrenheit 451 on Bookshop.org*
Dear Fahrenheit 451 on Amazon*

From the publisher: A librarian’s laugh-out-loud funny, deeply moving collection of love letters and breakup notes to the books in her life. If you love to read … you know that some books affect you so profoundly they forever change the way you think about the world. Some books, on the other hand, disappoint you so much you want to throw them against the wall. Either way, it’s clear that a book can be your new soul mate or the bad relationship you need to end.

In Dear Fahrenheit 451, librarian Annie Spence has crafted love letters and breakup notes to the iconic and eclectic books she has encountered over the years. From breaking up with The Giving Tree (a dysfunctional relationship book if ever there was one), to her love letter to The Time Traveler’s Wife (a novel less about time travel and more about the life of a marriage, with all of its ups and downs), Spence will make you think of old favorites in a new way.

Filled with suggested reading lists, Spence’s take on classic and contemporary books is very much like the best of literature―sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes surprisingly poignant, and filled with universal truths.

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Reading Behind Bars: A True Story of Literature, Law,
and Life as a Prison Librarian by Jill Grunewald

Reading Behind Bars on Bookshop.org*
Reading behind Bars on Amazon*

From the publisher: In December 2008, twenty-something Jill Grunenwald graduated with her Master’s degree in library science, ready to start living her dream of becoming a librarian. But the economy had a different idea. As the Great Recession reared its ugly head, jobs were scarce. After some searching, Jill was lucky enough to snag one of the few librarian gigs left in her home state of Ohio. The catch? The job was behind bars as the prison librarian at a men’s minimum-security prison. 

… Over the course of a little less than two years, Jill came to see past the bleak surroundings and the orange jumpsuits and recognize the humanity of the men stuck behind bars. They were just like every other library patron—persons who simply wanted to read, to be educated and entertained through the written word. Jill simultaneously began to recognize the humanity in everyone and to discover inner strength that she never knew she had. At turns poignant and hilarious, Reading behind Bars is a perfect read for fans of Orange is the New Black and Shakespeare Saved My Life.

 

 

Children’s books

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Schomberg: The Man Who Built a Library
by Carole Boston Weatherford 

Schomberg on Bookshop.org*
Schomberg on Amazon*

Though this book is meant for grades 3 to 6 (illustrated by Eric Velasquez), it can really be enjoyed by “children of all ages,” and is a wonderful way to learn about an amazing, under-appreciated personage in American literary history.

From the publisher: In luminous paintings and arresting poems, two of children’s literature’s top African-American scholars track Arturo Schomburg’s quest to correct history.

Where is our historian to give us our side? Arturo asked. Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro–Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk’s life’s passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages … A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world.

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The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

The Book Itch on Bookshop.org*
The Book Itch on Amazon.com*

From the publisher: In the 1930s, Lewis’s dad, Lewis Michaux Sr., had an itch he needed to scratch–a book itch. How to scratch it? He started a bookstore in Harlem and named it the National Memorial African Bookstore.

And as far as Lewis Michaux Jr. could tell, his father’s bookstore was one of a kind. People from all over came to visit the store, even famous people–Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, and Langston Hughes, to name a few. In his father’s bookstore people bought and read books, and they also learned from each other.

People swapped and traded ideas and talked about how things could change. Read the story of how Lewis Michaux Sr. and his bookstore fostered new ideas and helped people stand up for what they believed in.

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, ALA Notable Children’s Book, Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, Kirkus Best Children’s Books, & other awards. It’s picture book (illustrated by R. Gregory Christie) for grades 1 to 4, though like the book above about Arturo Schomberg, it can be enjoyed by all ages.

 Novels

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The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald

The Bookshop on Bookshop.org*
The Bookshop on Amazon*

Set in 1959, Florence Green, a kindhearted widow with a small inheritance, risks everything to open a bookshop—the only bookshop—in the seaside town of Hardborough. By making a success of a business so impractical, she invites the hostility of the town’s less prosperous shopkeepers.

By daring to enlarge her neighbors’ lives, she crosses Mrs. Gamart, the local arts doyenne. Florence’s warehouse leaks, her cellar seeps, and the shop is apparently haunted. Only too late does she begin to suspect the truth: a town that lacks a bookshop isn’t always a town that wants one.

The Bookshop, published in 2015,  was adapted to film in 2018, to mixed reviews by audiences and critics. Devotees of media about bookstores should nevertheless get some enjoyment from it.

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The Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of World War II
by Madeline Martin

The Last Bookshop in London on Bookshop.org*
The Last Bookshop in London on Amazon*

From the publisher: August 1939: London prepares for war as enemy forces sweep across Europe. Grace Bennett has always dreamed of moving to the city, but the bunkers and drawn curtains that she finds on her arrival are not what she expected. And she certainly never imagined she’d wind up working at Primrose Hill, a dusty old bookshop nestled in the heart of London.

Through blackouts and air raids as the Blitz intensifies, Grace discovers the power of storytelling to unite her community in ways she never dreamed—a force that triumphs over even the darkest nights of the war.

This 2021 publication has become a bestseller and a reader favorite.

 

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The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

The Little Paris Bookshop on Bookshop.org*
The Little Paris Bookshop on Amazon*

From the publisher: “Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can’t seem to heal through literature is himself; he’s still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.”

Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people’s lives.

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The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

The Bookshop on the Corner on Bookshop.org*
The Bookshop on the Corner on Amazon*

From the publisher: Nina Redmond is a librarian with a gift for finding the perfect book for her readers. But can she write her own happy-ever-after? In this valentine to readers, librarians, and book-lovers the world over, the New York Times-bestselling author of Little Beach Street Bakery returns with a funny, moving new novel for fans of Nina George’s The Little Paris Bookshop.

Nina is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion… and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more. Determined to make a new life for herself, Nina moves to a sleepy village many miles away. There she buys a van and transforms it into a bookmobile — a mobile bookshop that she drives from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling. 

Nina discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home… a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending. The next book in this series is The Bookshop on the Shore.

 

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*This post contains Bookshop Affiliate and Amazon Affiliate links. If a product is purchased by linking through, Literary Ladies Guide receives a modest commission, which helps maintain our site and helps it to continue growing!

The post Books about Bookshops, Libraries, & Reading for True Bibliophiles appeared first on Literary Ladies Guide.

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck: An Appreciation

Revisiting a book many years after the first reading and still being able to connect is one of the greatest joys of rediscovering great authors. It’s no surprise that Pearl S. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize for The Good Earth and also went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

This novel, published in 1931, was the first in her House of Earth trilogy, followed by Sons and A House Divided. It made it to the bestselling lists in the United States, both in 1931 and 1932. The author, as the daughter of missionaries, grew up in China and based this work of historical fiction on her personal observations of village life around her.

Possibly the most interesting consequence of the author’s sympathetic depiction of the protagonists, farmer Wang Lung and his wife O-Lan, was in helping Americans of that period to be accepting of the Chinese as allies against the rumblings of war against Japan. Perhaps even Buck couldn’t have anticipated the impact that her book had — and continued to have — on her fellow Americans.

 

A view of women & society that still resonates

For myself, as an Asian woman from a totally different time, the book almost seems uncanny in its similarity to India, in the way that it views women.

The notion of a woman as a possession, which seems an underlying theme of this book, is prevalent even in the India of today, more pronounced perhaps in the rural hinterlands and very much internalized in a patriarchal society.

The other marked commonality is the respect accorded to elders and the elevated position that they enjoy in a family, by virtue of their years and experience.

The abject poverty of this farming family has been grasped so well by the author that you are left wondering whether she has lived this life herself. From the scarcity of water for a bath to the limitations on food and drink and also the tattered clothes; everything is reflected so authentically.

 

Wang Lung’s marriage to O-lan

The story begins with the farmer Wang Lung’s marriage day and his preparations for the occasion. After fetching water for his father’s wash, which he has been doing for six years since his mother’s passing, he can look forward to a rest: “There was a woman coming to the house. Never again would Wang Lung have to rise summer and winter at dawn to light the fire.”

The contrast between poverty and wealth is a recurring theme of this novel as is Wang Lung’s obsession with his land and the desire to own more and more of it. The House of Hwang from where his father goes in search of a slave as a bride for his son, is held up in the early part of the novel as unattainable until good fortune comes into the life of Wang Lung, whilst things change for the House of Wang.

Wang Lung’s father’s decision to choose a bride who is not pretty is met with initial protests by the son. But he is silenced by his father’s logic, “And what will we do with a pretty woman? We must have a woman who will tend the house and bear children as she works in the fields, and will a pretty woman do these things?”

The tragic character in this novel is most certainly O-Lan, the bride that Wang Lung brings home. She is all that Wang Lung’s father had envisaged and much more. Self-effacing and efficient, this woman becomes someone the father and son begin to depend on and, later on, the children who are born to the couple. Even when she bears children, O-Lan handles everything herself in quiet isolation and is up and about the next day, tending to the house and going about her regular work.

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A 1931 review of The Good Earth
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A reversal of fortune

The birth of a first-born son is a matter of great celebration and announcements are made with ceremonial fanfare. Like in many Asian cultures, the arrival of a son affords bragging rights in China, whilst the birth of daughters is no cause for celebration, with the daughters sometimes being referred to as slaves.

The fortunes of Wang Lung seem to turn around after the arrival of his wife and while he seems silently proud of her, never once does he openly voice his appreciation of her. Rather, in the latter part of the novel, he actually develops an aversion to her plainness, and what he now perceives as coarseness. With his newly acquired wealth, the farmer now involves himself in a dalliance with a prostitute and later brings her home as his second wife.

One wonders whether the author had intended to keep an aura of mystery about O-Lan or is it the prototype of a Chinese village woman that she has tried to replicate? Rarely is there a personal glimpse into the life that O-Lan lived in the House of Hwang as a slave. The only time that she shows desire is when she asks to keep two tiny pearls from a pile of jewelry that she has kept hidden on her person after retrieving the same from a rich man’s house.

“Then Wang Lung, without comprehending it, looked for an instant into the heart of this dull and faithful creature, who had labored all her life at some task at which she won no reward…”

Besides this, O-Lan only shows resentment in small ways when the second wife comes to live with the rest of the family, but does not express anything in words.

 

Glimpses of the House of Hwang

Buck, being the great author that she is, keeps the see-saw going with regard to deprivation, then prosperity, and again hardship, followed again by great wealth. Being the daughter of missionaries, one cannot help wonder whether there is an internalization of the dangers of too much wealth, which the reader is given glimpses of, in the dissipated lives of the denizens of the House of Hwang.

History seems to repeat itself in the House of Wang, as the farmer becomes a wealthy man and the sons used to the good life, no longer have a connection with the land, except for the wealth that can be extracted from it. The end is poignant when Wang Lung, old and helpless, tells his sons, “If you sell the land, it is the end” and they reply, “Rest assured, father …The land is not to be sold,” as they look over his head and smile at each other.

Contributed by Melanie P. Kumar: Melanie is a Bangalore, India-based independent writer who has always been fascinated with the magic of words. Links to some of her pieces can be found at gonewiththewindwithmelanie.wordpress.com.

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