Zelda Fitzgerald on F. Scott’s Writing
Zelda’s satirical review of F. Scott's second novel, The Beautiful and the Damned, revealed much more than her wit.
L. M. Montgomery’s Plain Jane
Though not as well known as Anne of Green Gables, Montgomery's Jane of Lantern Hill also explores domesticity, freedom, and, yes, Prince Edward Island.
When Aldous Huxley Dropped Acid
In Hollywood, the esteemed ex-pat made the acquaintance of Alfred Hubbard, a Kentucky-born smuggler of ill-repute who introduced him to a brave, new world.
“The Crocodile,” Dostoevsky’s Weirdest Short Story
Why being eaten by a crocodile named Little Karl is really a lesson in the dangers of foreign capital.
Revolutionary Writing in Carlos Bulosan’s America
Bulosan’s fiction reflects an awareness of the inequality between the Philippines and the US and connects that relationship to his own class experience.
Sui Sin Far, the Chinese Canadian-American Sentimentalist
The short story collection Mrs. Spring Fragrance should be read in the context of nineteenth-century sentimentalism, which was shaped by Christian morality.
Mary Taylor, Charlotte Brontë’s Cool Friend
An independent traveler and business owner, Taylor inspired many of Brontë's own enterprises, including her relocation to Brussels.
A Tale of Two Visionaries
What roiled the mind of Nebraska poet John Neihardt with whom Black Elk, the iconic Lakota holy man, shared his story?
Redeeming the Old Maid
Scottish-born novelist Elizabeth Hamilton used her characters to anticipate a future for herself in middle age as a confident and intelligent woman.
Dervla Murphy: The Godmother of Hitting the Road
Perhaps the greatest female travel writer of her generation, Murphy defied the narrative of the dutiful Irish daughter—and motherhood—to find freedom.