EPISODE · Dec 9, 2025 · 45 MIN
The Books by Women History Tried to Forget
from Under the Influence with Jo Piazza · host Jo Piazza
Quite Literally Books is doing something rare in publishing. They are bringing back books by American women who were once widely read, widely praised, and then quietly erased from the literary conversation. These writers were bestsellers a hundred years ago. They were reviewed by the major outlets. They shaped cultural debates. And then, because the canon was built and maintained mostly by men, their work disappeared from classrooms, bookstores, and the public memory. Republishing these books is not just a literary project. It is a way of restoring voices that should never have been silenced in the first place. In this episode, I talk with the two women behind Quite Literally Books. They explain how they track down these lost authors, what it feels like to hold a great book that history forgot, and why stories about motherhood, marriage, mental health, labor, and identity from the early twentieth century still feel shockingly current. Check out Quite Literally Books. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What this episode covers
Quite Literally Books is doing something rare in publishing. They are bringing back books by American women who were once widely read, widely praised, and then quietly erased from the literary conversation. These writers were bestsellers a hundred years ago. They were reviewed by the major outlets. They shaped cultural debates. And then, because the canon was built and maintained mostly by men, their work disappeared from classrooms, bookstores, and the public memory. Republishing these books is not just a literary project. It is a way of restoring voices that should never have been silenced in the first place. In this episode, I talk with the two women behind Quite Literally Books. They explain how they track down these lost authors, what it feels like to hold a great book that history forgot, and why stories about motherhood, marriage, mental health, labor, and identity from the early twentieth century still feel shockingly current. Check out Quite Literally Books. Join our newsletter community here. ORDER EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU here. Visit our lovely sponsors here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The Books by Women History Tried to Forget
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