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Long before 'Brat Summer,' America was taken with Mary MacLane, a defiant and wildly egotistical 19-year-old resident of Butte, Montana, whose confessional diary implored the “kind devil” to deliver her from a life of bourgeois boredom. Professor Cathryn Halverson from Sweden’s Södertörn University joins us for this episode to discuss MacLane’s life, angst and the reading public’s reaction to her adolescent intensity.
Mentioned in this episode:I Await the Devil’s Coming/The Story of Mary MacLane by Mary MacLane (Project Gutenberg)
MTV’s “My So-Called Life”
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening
Herbert S. Stone & Co.
Marie Bashkirtseff
The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff: I am the Most Interesting Woman of All Volume I and Lust for Glory Volume II
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
“Men Who Have Made Love to Me”
I, Mary MacLane by Mary MacLane
Faraway Women and the Atlantic Monthly by Cathryn Halverson
Maverick Autobiographies: Women Writers and the American West by Cathryn Halverson
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HIATUS ENCORE: Anne Zimmerman, author of the 2011 biography An Extravagant Hunger: The Passionate Years of M.F.K. Fisher, joins us to discuss Fisher and her World War II-era book How to Cook a Wolf, which was an attempt to teach people how to eat well and be well amidst personal and collective chaos.
Discussed in this episode:
An Extravagant Hunger: The Passionate Years of M.F.K. Fisher by Anne Zimmerman
How to Cook a Wolf by M.F.K. Fisher
Lost Ladies of Lit episode on Peg Bracken
The Art of Eating Well by M.F.K. Fisher
“The Wolf at the Door” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher
Schlesinger Library at Harvard
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As Berlin bureau chief for The Chicago Tribune from 1925-1941, Sigrid Schultz deflected both sexism and danger to report the truth and speak truth to power. The Nazis dubbed her “that dragon from Chicago,” and her importance as an indomitable “newspaperman” (her term) telling Americans about the Third Reich's agenda can’t be understated. Amy speaks this week with Pamela Toler, the author of a new biography on Schultz’s life, work and lasting legacy.
Mentioned in this episode:
The Dragon From Chicago: The Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany by Pamela Toler
Women Warriors: An Unexpected History by Pamela Toler
Heroines of Mercy Street: The Real Nurses of the Civil War by Pamela Toler
The Chicago Tribune
McCall’s Magazine
Friederich Ebert
Hermann Goering
Joseph Goebbels
Hotel Adlon
Richard Henry Little, a.k.a. Dick Little
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
Erik Larson’s In The Garden of Beasts
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HIATUS ENCORE: Sisters Jane and Anna Maria Porters’ books took Regency-era England by storm just a few years ahead of Jane Austen, and their lives were chock-full of fascinating (and insufferable) characters, intriguing romantic escapades, event-filled interludes at the homes of wealthy acquaintances and desperate gambits to stay one step ahead of the poverty line. Joining us is ASU Regents Professor of English, Devoney Looser, whose new book is Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontes. Kirkus Reviews calls it “a triumph of literary detective work.”
Discussed in this episode:
Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontes by Devoney Looser
Devoney Looser
Jane Austen
Sir Walter Scott
Braveheart (1995 film)
Artless Tales by Anna Maria Porter
The Dashwood Sisters
“L'Allegro” by John Milton
“Il Penseroso” by John Milton
Thaddeus of Warsaw by Jane Porter
The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter
The Hungarian Brothers by Anna Maria Porter
Queen Victoria
Andrew Jackson
Emily Dickinson
Waverly by Sir Walter Scott
“The End of the English Major” (The New Yorker, 2/27/2023)
Sophia Lee's The Recess
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Amy discusses the good and bad of audiobook narration in this week’s bonus episode, then dives into the origins of the commercial audiobook industry. Founded in 1952, Caedmon Records was the brainchild of two young women who achieved their smash debut success by convincing Dylan Thomas to record himself reading some of his most popular work, including “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” The recording company went on to record LPs of work by a wide array of literary stars, including Gertrude Stein, Sylvia Plath, Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Eliot and J.R.R. Tolkien, thus paving the way for today’s burgeoning audiobook market.
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HIATUS ENCORE: Zora Neale Hurston’s 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is widely considered to be a masterpiece, yet were it not for a renewed push by author Alice Walker in the 1970s, Hurston and her legacy might well have been lost. We have Melissa Kiguwa, host of The Idealists podcast, joining us to discuss Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters.
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She was called “the most beautiful woman in the world,” but silver screen siren Hedy Lamarr was much more than just a pretty face. Looking to help combat German U-boats during WWII, she pioneered technology that today serves as the basis for wireless innovations like Bluetooth, GPS and Wifi. Lamar received scant recognition and no monetary compensation for the idea that spawned a multi-billion-dollar communications industry, but in this week’s bonus episode, Amy gives credit where credit is due and attempts to answer the “how” and “why” behind Lamarr’s genius.
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Did you know that Noel Streatfeild’s 1936 children’s book Ballet Shoes is based on her earlier novel The Whicharts, a tawdrier and not-for-children “shadow twin” that was published five years prior? Find out why it’s our favorite of the two in this week’s episode with our guest, author and bookstagrammer Wendy-Marie Chabot.
Discussed in this week’s episode:
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
The Whicharts by Noel Streatfeild
Little Dancer Aged 14 by Edgar Degas
Marie van Goethem
Wannabe: Confessions of a Failed Bibliophile by Badgwendel
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Desert Island Discs on Noel Streatfeild
You’ve Got Mail (1998 film)
Ballet Shoes (2007 TV movie)
Umbrella Academy (2019- TV series)
Lost Ladies of Lit episode on Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy
The Vicarage series by Noel Streatfeild
At Freddie’s by Penelope Fitzgerald
Lost Ladies of Lit episode on E.M. Delafield’s Diary of a Provincial Lady
Black Swan (2010 film)
Ballet Shoes (1975 TV mini series)
Pride and Prejudice (1995 BBC series)
Six Weeks (1982 film)
Dancing on My Grave by Gelsey Kirkland
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Long before an insatiable press laid siege to Catherine, Princess of Wales, Princess Diana, Meghan Markle and in-law to America’s “royal family,” Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, Empress Elizabeth of Austria was the beautiful royal everyone wanted a piece of. Feeling like a prisoner in a gilded cage, “Sisi” managed her frustrations through an unhealthy obsession with her appearance and by writing poetry that maligned the monarchy and revealed her deep yearning for freedom. In this week’s bonus episode, Amy discusses Sisi’s life and poems, which were finally published almost a century after her 1898 assassination.
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Pack your steamer trunks! We’re traveling to 19th-century Bavaria this week by way of Ann Schlee’s 1980 historical novel Rhine Journey, newly republished by McNally Editions. This Booker-Prize nominated travel tale features vivid period details, sultry psychological thrills and a protagonist on the brink of a personal revolution, all sewn up in a vibe that reads like a German twist on “A Room With a View.” Author Sam Johnson-Schlee joins us to discuss the life and work of his grandmother, who passed away in November at the age of 89. Also joining the conversation is McNally Editions’ Lucy Scholes.
Mentioned in this episode:
McNally Editions 2024 edition of Rhine Journey by Ann Schlee
Daunt Books 2024 edition of Rhine Journey by Ann Schlee
Living Rooms by Sam Johnson-Schlee
A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
“Celebrating Ann Schlee and Rhine Journey: ‘a tale of female rage and agency’” by Lucy Scholes
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 87 on Kay Dick
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 51 on Rosamond Lehmann
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 184 on Elizabeth Taylor Vs. Elizabeth Taylor
Landscape artist Nick Schlee
The Vandal by Ann Schlee
Ask Me No Questions by Ann Schlee
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Reflecting back on four years of literary “lost ladies,” Amy celebrates our 200th episode with a quirky list of yearbook superlatives to help jog your memory about some of our favorite titles, including the books “Most Likely to Make You Eat Your Vegetables,” “Most Likely to Up Your Selfie Game,” and “Most Likely to Make You Want to Delete All Your Dating Apps.” We mark this milestone with gratitude to our listeners, guests and patrons for helping us go the distance!
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An Australian author — and the 1979 film adaptation of her work — capture Kim and Amy’s fancy this week on the show. Published in 1901 and written when author Miles Franklin was only eighteen years old, My Brilliant Career became an instant classic of Australian literature and still delights readers with its feisty heroine, Sybylla Melvin, and its realistic depiction of Australian life and lingo at the turn of the 20th century. In our discussion of the novel and its film adaptation (starring Judy Davis and Sam Neill) we’ll explain why Franklin’s fear of being a literary one-hit-wonder proved unfounded, and why her name today graces one of Australia’s top annual literary prizes.
Mentioned in this episode:
Miles Franklin
My Brilliant Career film
My Brilliant Career novel
Judy Davis
Sam Neill
Director Gillain Armstrong
Oscar and Lucinda
Charlotte Grey
Blackwood’s publishing house
Anne of Green Gables
The Thorn Birds
Brent of Bin Bin
Up the Country by Brent of Bin Bin
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 128 on Margaret Oliphant
Henry Lawson
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
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Things get weird on the show this week as Amy and Kim commune with some ladies of literature from beyond the veil… with a little bit of help from ChatGPT. Check out our “interview” with Restoration-era author and playwright Aphra Behn, then find out what happens when we play around with prompts for Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë. The experience leaves our hosts more grateful than ever for real-life guests!
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You may think you’ve never read anything by Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter, but if you’ve read any Thomas Mann, there’s a good chance you’ve seen her handiwork. Lowe-Porter was a writer and translator whose greatest (but largely unsung) success came in the form of translating 22 monumental works by the German literary giant. Her English translations of Mann’s work proved pivotal in his being awarded the Nobel Prize in 1929. A new novel tells her hidden story, and its author, Jo Salas (who has family ties to the translator) joins us in this episode to discuss Lowe-Porter’s triumphs and tribulations.
Mentioned in this episode:
Mrs. Lowe-Porter by Jo Salas
Dancing with Diana by Jo Salas
Charlotte Endymion Porter
Poet Lore
Elias Lowe
Alfred and Blanche Knopf
Thomas Mann
Audible audiobook of Lowe-Porter’s translation of Buddenbrooks
Lowe-Porter’s translation of The Magic Mountain
Lowe-Porter’s translation of Death in Venice
Lowe-Porter’s tranlsation of Dr. Faustus
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Writers Carson McCullers and W.H. Auden, literary editor George Davis, composer Benjamin Britten and burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee... once upon a time they all lived together in a house in Brooklyn Heights, an early 1940s version of the sitcom "Friends," only this one populated by an ever-changing mix of creative geniuses. Amy explains more about this merry (and often inebriated) band of misfits and their communal living arrangement in this week's bonus episode.
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Guest Carrie Courogen, author of the acclaimed new bio "Miss May Does Not Exist," joins us to discuss comic genius Elaine May. Known for her groundbreaking work in comedy, screenwriting, directing, and acting, May rose to fame as part of the iconic comedy duo Nichols and May. Despite her significant contributions to films like "Tootsie" and "The Birdcage," she often chose to remain uncredited, creating an air of mystery around her achievements. Carrie Courogen provides deep insights into May's life, from her early days in improv to her film directorial debut with "A New Leaf," and her later return to Broadway, painting a vivid portrait of this enigmatic, brilliant artist.
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Marcel Duchamp created one of the most influential works of art in the 20th century. Or did he? There are some who theorize that a woman — “proto-punk” poet and Dada-ist Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven — is the true genius behind the groundbreaking “Fountain” urinal sculpture that rocked the art world in 1917. Learn more about this attention-seeking baroness and the potential evidence linking her to this iconic artwork in this week’s episode. And stay for the “Dinner Party” — Judy Chicago’s monumental homage to women’s history, which includes plenty of “lost ladies” featured on this podcast!
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In this special catch-up episode, we take a breather to share updates and insights from our recent reads, including works by Sylvia Townsend Warner and Radclyffe Hall. Amy introduces a quirky new business idea inspired by silent disco and Shakespeare, and we invite listeners to text feedback using a new ‘text us’ feature. Plus, we tease upcoming episodes, including one on screenwriter Elaine May, and announce exclusive bonus content for Patreon members. Tune in for a mix of literary chat and listener engagement!
Discussed:
A Chance Meeting: American Encounters by Rachel Cohen
A Strange and Sublime Address by Amit Chaudhuri
Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (Episode 158)
The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann
One Year's Time by Angela Milne
Mitz by Sigrid Nunez
The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez
The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen
A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel
The Saga of Gösta Berling by Selma Lagerlöf
Podcast Episodes:
Episode 158: Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Other Mentions:
David Melville and the Independent Shakespeare Company
Marcel Duchamp's urinal sculpture and the debate over its true creator
Judy Chicago's art installation The Dinner Party
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Inspired by Barbara Comyns, who lived with an unusual assortment of pets over the years, this bonus episode explores female authors who owned pet monkeys. Amy discusses Virginia Woolf and her Nazi-disarming marmoset Mitz, Nellie Bly’s fez-wearing travel companion, McGinty, and other primates who captured the hearts of some lesser-known women writers, including Miles Franklin, Mickey Hahn, Emily Carr and Clarice Lispector.
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Barbara Comyns was recently called, “the best English novelist you’ve never heard of” and her unsettling gothic novels are equal parts enchanting and horrific. Joining us is Avril Horner, author of "Barbara Comyns: A Savage Innocence," who offers insight into Comyns' unique blend of dark humor and her empathetic portrayals of vulnerable protagonists. Graham Greene was a fan and wrote of her, “The strange offbeat talent of Miss Comyns and that innocent eye which observes with childlike simplicity the most fantastic or the most ominous of occurrences, these have never, I think, before been more impressively exercised than in ‘The Vet’s Daughter.’” We discuss that novel as well as her autobiographical “Our Spoons Came from Woolworths.”
Discussed in this episode:
"Barbara Comyns: A Savage Innocence” by Avril Horner
“The Vet’s Daughter” by Barbara Comyns
“Our Spoons Came from Woolworths” by Barbara Comyns
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