Lost Ladies of Lit

Send us Fan MailFirst surfacing in 1896 at a marketplace in Cairo, scraps of ancient papyrus left scholars gobsmacked by the discovery: a fragmented account of Mary Magdalene in conversation with Jesus and his disciples. The codex’s circuitous path to publication in the mid-20th century is almost as compelling a tale as the gospel itself, which redefines the role of women in early Christianity and features a salvation that’s rooted in individual agency. Religious historian Sarah Parkhouse joins us from the University of Manchester to discuss the reclamation of Mary’s words and historical reputation, as well as how newly unearthed Greek fragments lend credence to this long-lost gnostic text.Mentioned in this episode:The Gospel of MaryRead The Gospel of MaryMary MagdaleneEschatology and the Savior: The ‘Gospel of Mary’ among Early Christian Dialogue Gospels by Sarah ParkhouseThe Gospel of Mary Magdala by Karen L. KingCarl ReinhardtIrenaeusThe concept of Entanglement in the Gospel of MaryThe Dark Tower by Stephen KingThe Da Vinci Code by Dan BrownOxyrhynchusPope Gregory IThe Gospel of PhilipSophia: The Wisdom of God by Sergei BulgakovHistory of The Acts of Paul and TheclaRead The Acts of Paul and TheclaThe Girl Who Baptized Herself: How a Lost Scripture About a Saint Named Thecla Reveals the Power of Knowing Our Worth by Meggan Watterson“Has a Missing Fragment of the Gospel of Mary Been Discovered?” from The Bible and Beyond PodcastDiscussion on Mary Magdalene’s influence on the songs of Tori AmosVideo clip from The Gospel of Mary opera by Mark AdamoSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan Mail“Things that go bump in the night…?” Try sleep-deprived mothers, for starters. British author Celia Fremlin recognized the terrors of trying to hold it together while caring for young children, earning her an Edgar Award for her 1959 debut novel The Hours Before Dawn. Having recently published her own suspense-filled novel, returning guest Emily Midorikawa joins us to discuss Fremlin’s ability to cast a dark shadow on domesticity. This page-turning tale of a beleaguered mum facing inner doubts and outward threats will also kick off the first “Lost Ladies of Lit” online reading group, generously hosted by The Sitting Room Library.Mentioned in this episode:Reading Group for The Hours Before Dawn hosted by The Sitting Room Library.The Hours Before Dawn by Celia FremlinA Tiny Speck of Black and Then Nothing by Emily MidorikawaOut of the Shadows: Six Visionary Victorian Women in Search of a Public Voice by Emily MidorikawaA Secret Sisterhood: The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot and Virginia Woolf by Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire SweeneyLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 85 on Mary TaylorLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 286 on Mary Elizabeth BraddonThe Seven Chars of Chelsea by Celia FremilinAppointment With Yesterday by Celia FremlinPatricia HighsmithRosemary’s Baby by Ira LevinThe Fifth Child by Doris LessingNightbitch by Rachel YoderThe School for Good Mothers by Jessamine ChanSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailWe're concluding our own "Hot Girl Summer" with the writer 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 joins us 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 AwakeningHerbert S. Stone & Co.Marie BashkirtseffThe Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff: I am the Most Interesting Woman of All Volume I and Lust for Glory Volume IIAre You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume“Men Who Have Made Love to Me” I, Mary MacLane by Mary MacLaneFaraway Women and the Atlantic Monthly by Cathryn HalversonMaverick Autobiographies: Women Writers and the American West by Cathryn HalversonPlaying House in the American West: Western Women’s Life Narratives by Cathryn HalversonSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailIf Brigid Brophy’s The King of a Rainy Country had a soundtrack, it might include the soft patter of rain on a garret window, jazz drifting from a smoky cafe, the hum of a Vespa on narrow cobblestone streets … and the obnoxious griping of a few dozen uncultured Americans! As the description suggests, Brophy’s 1956 novel has a little bit of everything  — atmosphere, nostalgia and poignancy mixed with subversive wit and madcap antics. Kim and Amy play “tour guide” examining Brophy’s life and accomplishments, including this wonderfully quirky book, recently reissued by McNally Editions.Mentioned in this episode:Pilgrimage online Reading Group with The Sitting Room libraryLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 116 on Dorothy RichardsonLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 270 on The Sitting RoomPilgrimage by Dorothy RichardsonMcNally Editions The King of a Rainy Country by Brigid BrophyMarginalia article about Brigid Brophy and Iris Murdoch by Maria PopovaLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 51 on Rosamond LehmannDusty Answer by Rosamond LehmannLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 150 on Elizabeth SmartBy Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth SmartLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 184 on Elizabeth Taylor Vs. Elizabeth TaylorBBC program “Take it Or Leave It”In Transit by Brigid BrophyHackenfeller’s Ape by Brigid BrophyThe Snowball by Brigid BrophyFifty Works of English Literature We Could Do Without by Brigid Brophy, Michael Levey and ??The Crown Princess and Other Stories by Brigid Brophy“Spleen” by BeaudelaireDeath in Venice by Thomas Mann“As You Like It” by William ShakespeareSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailOur "sweltering summer" series continues this week with a re-play of a truly wild desert-island memoir. When Lucy Irvine answered a classified ad to play Girl Friday to a real-life Robinson Crusoe on a remote tropical island, she embarked on an enthralling—and at times harrowing—year-long adventure. The result was her bestselling 1983 memoir, Castaway, a beautifully-written tale of survival. We’re diving into Irvine’s unforgettable story with special guest Francesca Segal, whose own island-centric novel, Welcome to Glorious Tuga, was recently optioned for TV by See-Saw Films.Mentioned in this episode:Castaway by Lucy IrvineThe Lucy Irvine FoundationWelcome to Glorgious Tuga by Francesca SegalRunaway and Faraway by Lucy IrvineThe Islander by Gerald KingslandThe Secret Life of a Schoolgirl by Rosemary KingslandCastaway 1986 film trailer starring Amanda Donohoe and Oliver ReedWild by Cheryl Strayed“Alone” on the History ChannelSee-Saw FilmsOne is One by Lucy IrvineThe Innocents by Francesca SegalSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailThis week we're revisiting an Australian author — and the 1979 film adaptation of her work — which originally captured Kim and Amy’s fancy back in 2024. 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 FranklinMy Brilliant Career filmMy Brilliant Career novelJudy DavisSam NeillDirector Gillain ArmstrongOscar and LucindaCharlotte GreyBlackwood’s publishing houseAnne of Green GablesThe Thorn BirdsBrent of Bin BinUp the Country by Brent of Bin BinLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 128 on Margaret OliphantHenry LawsonCold Comfort Farm by Stella GibbonsBring the Monkey by Miles FranklinMy Career Goes Bung by Miles FranklinAll That Swagger by Miles FranklinS.H. Prior Memorial PrizeThe Miles Franklin AwardThe Stella PrizeMiles Franklin: A Short Biography by Jill RoeOf Foreign Lands and Peoples by Robert Schumann (soundtrack to film)Support the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailWe're celebrating summer with another sultry, almost-suffocating novel from our podcast vaults, one clearly written with William Golding's Lord of the Flies in mind. When Jane White’s gripping and unsettling debut novel Quarry was first published in 1967, a review in The Scotsman called it “the most frightening novel of the year.” Joining us is White’s daughter-in-law, Dr. Helen Hughes, of the University of Surrey, who wrote the afterword to the new Boiler House Press edition of Quarry. Mentioned in this episode:Oxford's summer Lifelong Learning seminar on Josephine TeyQuarry by Jane WhiteNorfolk Child by Jane WhiteThe Lord of the Flies by William GoldingProxy by Jane WhiteBeatrice, Falling by Jane WhiteThe Neglected Books page on Jane WhiteSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailWith Counterpoint Press's new editions of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's work (including her Booker-Prize winning novel Heat and Dust and a new short story collection Disinheritance: The Rediscovered Stories) we're inspired to revisit our 2022 episode on this prolific writer of fiction and films. Pivotal to the success of Merchant/Ivory films like A Room With a View and Howard's End, Jhabvala used her experiences as an "initiated outsider" to tell stories brimming with nuance, humor, truth and beauty.Mentioned in this episode:Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer JhabvalaDisinheritance: The Rediscovered Stories by Ruth Prawer JhabvalaBrigitte Hales Disenchanted (2022 film)Merchant Ivory ProductionsA Room with a View (1985 film)Howard’s End (1992 film)The Householder by Ruth Prawer JhabvalaNissim EzekielThe Householder (1963 film)Heat and Dust (1983 film)Support the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailFirst published in 1983 after being championed by Toni Morrison, Nettie Jones’s Fish Tales recounts one woman’s trauma-filled, hedonistic quest for personal freedom amidst a “Disco-Era,” drug-fuelled backdrop — one inspired by Jones’s own lived experiences in 1970s Detroit and New York City. Nigerian-American author and Lit Club founder Hannah Eko joins us to discuss the ways power, pleasure and pain converge in Jones’s transgressive work, which was reissued by Farrar Straus and Giroux in 2025Mentioned in this episode:Fish Tales by Nettie JonesHoney is the Knife by Hannah EkoThe Lit Club’s 2026 event calendarToni MorrisonVillage Well bookstoreLucumiOshunCharles AbramsonJean ToomerLongreads article on Nettie Jones by Michael GonzalezNuma PerrierZola filmLess Than Zero by Bret Easton EllisBright Lights, Big City by Jay McInernyHunter S. ThompsonAnais NinGayl JonesThe Hitachi Magic WandYoruba ArtLost Ladies of Lit Patreon pageSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailConsidered one of the greatest crime novels of all time, Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time flipped 450 years of British history on its head by re-examining Richard III’s purported involvement in the murder of his two young nephews, the Princes in the Tower. How did a shopkeeper’s daughter-turned-high-school gym teacher become one of the 20th century’s greatest writers of mystery, literary fiction and theatrical plays? Tey’s biographer, Jennifer Morag Henderson, joins us to discuss the double life that allowed Tey to rocket to stardom while also flying under the radar in her home town of Inverness, Scotland.Mentioned in this episode:Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine TeyThe Daughter of Time by Josephine TeyKif: An Unvarnished History by Josephine TeyThe Man in the Queue by Josephine TeyClaverhouse by Josephine TeyRichard of Bordeaux by Josephine TeyJosephine Tey: A Life by Jennifer Morag HendersonDaughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary, Queen of Scots by Jennifer Morag HendersonJofrid Gunn by Jennifer Morag HendersonWolf Hall by Hilary MantelGaudy Night by Dorothy L. SayersThe Richard III SocietyAnstey Physical Training CollegeRichard III: The King in the Car Park documentarySupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailThough her high-flying literary husband took center-stage, Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry was more than just the metaphorical “rose” in his novella The Little Prince. She was a writer and artist in her own right, with a gift for storytelling that’s evidenced in the now out-of-print novel Oppède. Following her death, an undiscovered memoir she wrote about her marriage to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry surfaced among her belongings and was published to great acclaim in 2000 as The Tale of the Rose. Wellesley professor Sara Kippur joins us in conversation to discuss the glittering life and literary merits of this often-overlooked 20th-century figure.Mentioned in this episodeThe Tale of the Rose: The Love Story Behind The Little Prince by Consuelo de Saint-ExupéryOppède or Kingdom of the Rocks by Consuelo de Saint-ExupéryNew York Nouveau: How Postwar French Literature Became American by Sara KippurThe Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-ExupéryJosé VasconcelosEnrique Gomez CarrilloNelly de VogüéAlain VircondeletJosé Martines FructuosoLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 117 on Zelda FitzgeraldAndré GideAndré BretonOppèdeWebsite with photos of Consuelo’s artVarian FryElsa TrioletTropisms by Nathalie SarrauteThe Sea Wall by Marguerite DurasThe Volcano Daughters by Gina Maria BalibreraSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailThe first Mexican-American woman novelist to be published in English, María Amparo Ruiz de Burton chose a surprising subject matter—East Coast high society—for her first novel, Who Would Have Thought It? She was uniquely qualified to skewer the hypocrisy of Northern abolitionists, lampoon corrupt politicians and even mock Abraham Lincoln as a figure she deems more “party-boy” than presidential. Bremond Berry MacDougall and Lisa Endo Cooper, founders of Quite Literally Books, join us to discuss their new reissue of this 1872 book and why it still resonates so loudly in the era of Donald Trump.Discussed in this episode:María Amparo Ruiz de BurtonWho Would Have Thought It? By María Amparo Ruiz de BurtonQuite Literally BooksLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 246 on Jessie Redmon FausetLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 79 on Frances Harper’s Iola LeRoyLittle Women by Louisa May AlcottUncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher StoweIncidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet JacobsHenry S. BurtonMary Todd LincolnAbraham LincolnVarina DavisJames BaldwinDr. Jessie Alemán1863 Habeas Corpus Suspension ActThe Squatter and the Don by María Amparo Ruiz de Burton on Project GutenbergSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailDetermined from a young age to escape the Jim-Crow South and see new places, Mississippi native Juanita Harrison managed, as a working-class Black woman, to cultivate her own version of a grand world tour, paying for her globe-trotting by picking up piecemeal work as a maid, nanny or cook in far-flung places. My Great, Wide, Beautiful World, her remarkable written account of this eight-year international adventure became a bestseller in 1936 and was the most commercially successful book by a Black author at that time. Cathryn Halverson, author of a brand-new biography on Harrion, joins us this week to discuss this “born writer,” whose sheer pluck and adventurous spirit helped her take the world by storm. Mentioned in this episode: My Great, Wide, Beautiful World by Juanita Harrison (free online version).A Born Writer: Juanita Harrison and Her Beautiful World by Cathryn HarrisonLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 210 on Mary MaclaneLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 246 on Jessie Redmon FausetChimene JacksonMildred MorrisMary Poppins by P.L. TraversAnthony BourdainEra Bell ThomsonSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailA literary icon in her native Hungary, Magda Szabó was relatively unknown to English-speaking readers until recent translations of her work opened the door to her powerful storytelling. In today’s episode we focus on her 1970 novel Abigail, which follows a headstrong teenager at an all-girls boarding school during WWII. Dangerous secrets, emotional complexity and an unexpected guardian angel add intrigue to this poignant coming-of-age tale. Our guest, Deborah H. Sussman of the ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, brings her perspective as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor to our discussion about preserving innocence in the midst of darkness.Mentioned in this episode:Abigail by Magda SzabóThe Door by Magda SzabóLen Rix translations of Magda SzabóPhotos of the Dóczy High School of the Debrecen Reformed College which inspired Matula AcademyMagda Szabó Memorial House museum“More Than a Survivor” by Deborah H. SussmanVillette by Charlotte BronteThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel SparkThe HoldoversThe Sound of Music2015 Musical production of Abigél from Ady TeátrumTrailer for Abigél 1978 miniseries for Hungarian television2012 film adaptation of The Door starring Helen MirrenSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailPass the smelling salts! Readers of the Victorian Era eagerly (or furtively) set scruples aside to read Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s 1862 sensation novel Lady Audley’s Secret — the title of which was enough to tempt even the most puritanical schoolmarm into sneaking a peak. But it was Braddon’s sumptuous prose, eye for drama and sophisticated understanding of social mores which won her the admiration of contemporaries like William Makepiece Thackery, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Louis Stevenson. Booklist reviewer and television writer Kristine Huntley joins us this week to discuss Braddon’s remarkable prowess in navigating scandalous secrets … including her own!Mentioned in this episode:2026 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction shortlist and longlistBooklistLady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon“Abducted by my Teacher” Lifetime movie“Freakish” on Hulu“Mind Games” on ABC“Two Sentence Horror Stories” on the CWThe real case that partially inspired Lady Audley’s SecretJohn MaxwellAurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth BraddonThe Woman in White by Wilkie CollinsThe Doctor’s Wife by Mary Elizabeth BraddonThe Trail of the Serpent by Mary Elizabeth BraddonThree Times Dead by Mary Elizabeth BraddonDaniel Deronda by George EliotLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 268 on Rosalind AsheSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailHer Life in Ink, a brand new biography by Sharon Harris about Elizabeth Garver Jordan, provides a good reason to plunder our podcast vault this week to revisit an episode about this star journalist, editor and mystery author. Jordan’s riveting coverage of the Lizzie Borden trial for The New York World captivated true-crime junkies of the late 19th-century, and her lengthy career as a journalist, fiction writer and literary editor still resonates today. Lori Harrison-Kahan and Jane Carr, editors of a brand new collection of Garver Jordan’s work, join us to discuss her courtroom dispatches, her connection to today’s #MeToo movement and how her “invisible labor” shaped the writing of literary giants like Sinclair Lewis and Henry James. Mentioned in this EpisodeASU/FIDM screening of Virginia Faulkner's "Bridal Suite" followed by a Q&A with Brad BigelowHer Life in Ink: Elizabeth Jordan, Journalist, Editor and Mystery Author by Sharon Harris The Case of Lizzie Borden & Other Writings by Jane Carr and Lori Harrison-KahanElizabeth Garver Jordan’s work:The Sturdy OakThe Whole Family The Lady of PentlandsThree Rousing Cheers“Ruth Herrick’s Assignment”“The Cry of the Pack”The Superwoman and Other Writings by Miriam MichelsonHeirs of Yesterday by Emma WolfThe New York WorldNellie BlyThe Lizzie Borden caseThe Lizzie Borden house in Fall River, Mass.Harper’s BazaarHarper and BrothersThe White Negress: Literature, Minstrelsy, and the Black Jewish Imaginary by Lori Harrison KahanAmish Rumspringa“Baby McKee”The Woman in White by Wilkie CollinsCNN article by Lori Harrison Kahan on the seeds of the #MeToo moSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan Mail“Queen of the Dunes” Hazel Hawthorne was a Cape Cod legend who wrote about The Road nearly two decades before her one-time tenant, Jack Kerouac. A uniquely feminine precursor to Beat literature, her novel Salt House captures Bohemian life amid the sand dunes of Provincetown. Though largely dismissed upon its 1934 publication, the book has been re-plucked from obscurity thanks to a new reissue by Provincetown Arts Press. Guests Allison Bass-Riccio and Livia Tenzer join us to discuss the almost transcendental effect Hawthorne’s life and writing has on those who continue to discover her.Mentioned in this episode:Salt House by Hazel HawthorneProvincetown ArtsTour the Dunes of ProvincetownPeaked Hill Trust Writing ResidencyThree Women by Hazel HawthorneEdmund WilsonMary Heaton VorseEugene O’NeillThe Provincetown PlayersOn the Road by Jack KerouacFinding Hazel Hawthorne podcast by Inka LeismaLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 150 on Elizabeth SmartSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailIn this encore presentation, Kim and Amy take stock by dusting off a "New Year’s" episode from 1921, sharing secrets of what makes their writing partnership work and turning to famous women writers — including Nancy Mitford, Isabelle Allende, Anais Nin and more for advice on setting (and more importantly, accomplishing) one's goals.Support the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailVirginia Faulkner had no family ties to that other famous Faulkner, but she is connected to another icon of classic American literature. A young flapper who made an authorial splash with the New York literati (earning comparisons to a young Dorothy Parker), Faulkner later switched gears, devoting the second half of her life to shaping The University of Nebraska Press into a powerhouse publishing institution. Her dedication to scholarship on Willa Cather helped solidify Cather in the pantheon of great American writers. We’re joined for this discussion by neglected books champion Brad Bigelow, whose biography Virginia Faulkner: A Life in Two Acts was recently published by Bison Press.Mentioned in this episode:Virginia Faulkner: A Life in Two Acts by Brad Bigelow2026 Pilgrimage Reading GroupPurchase the Pilgrimage Series by Dorothy RichardsonNeglected Books websiteFriends and Romans by Virginia FaulknerWilla CatherA House is Not a Home by Polly AdlerUniversity of Nebraska PressMy Hey Day (The “Princess Tulip” Stories) by Virginia FaulknerEx-Wife by Ursula ParrottEugene MeyerBernice SloteLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 59 on Gertrude TrevelyonLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 116 on Dorothy RichardsonLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 41 on Edith LewisLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 232 on Katharine S. WhiteLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 138 on Ursula ParrottLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 266 on Radclyffe HallLost Ladies of Lit Episode NSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailBefore penning the lyrics to “America the Beautiful,” Katharine Lee Bates shone a spotlight on the invisible (and not so invisible) labor tackled by an unsung Christmas heroine, Mrs. Claus. Bates’s 1888 poem “Goody Claus on a Sleigh Ride” imagines Santa’s spouse setting the record straight about who really does most of the work in preparation for Christmas. In this holiday episode, Amy confesses her own cynical feelings about the Yuletide season and reads this humorous poem with its surprisingly satirical and feminist bent. Listeners who tune in will also receive a special “Lost Ladies of Lit” holiday freebie!Mentioned in this episode:“Goody Claus on a Sleigh Ride” by Katharine Lee BatesLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 237 on Katharine Lee BatesSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailDark and disturbing, yet strangely redemptive, Djuna Barnes’s 1936 modernist masterpiece Nightwood left even its greatest champion, T.S. Eliot, a bit bewildered. Guest Margaret Vandenburg, an expert in modernism, post-modernism and gender studies, joins us to illuminate Barnes’s tumultuous life and help us decipher her "ultimate breakup novel,” a work that casts its spell by turning the world upside down in subversive defiance of fascism.Mentioned in this episode:Nightwood by Djuna BarnesCraze by Margaret VandenburgAn American in Paris by Margaret VandenburgDjuna: The Extraordinary Life of Djuna Barnes by Jon MacyThe Life and Work of Djuna Barnes by Phillip HerringNew York by Djuna Barnes (collected journalism)The Book of Repulsive Women and Other Poems by Djuna BarnesLadies Almanac by Djuna Barnes“The Antiphon” by Djuna BarnesLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 266 on Radclyffe HallZadel BarnesBarnes’s 1922 portrait of James Joyce for Vanity FairSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailLikened to a fresh Yorkshire breeze, Malachi Whitaker’s year-in-the-life memoir And So Did I, published in 1939, is a quirky spirit-quest juxtaposing wry humor and contemplative observations amidst the impending threat of global conflict. Valerie Waterhouse, a PhD researcher and executor of Whitaker’s literary estate, joins us to discuss the author’s life and work, as well as her own quest to keep Whitaker’s legacy alive, including securing a commemorative blue plaque for her birthplace and writing a forthcoming biography.Mentioned in this episode:And So Did I by Malachi WhitakerThe Journey Home and Other Stories by Malachi WhitkerThe Oxford Book of English Short Stories edited by A.S. Byatt“Landlord of the Crystal Fountain” by Malachi WhitakerA Room of One’s Own by Virginia WoolfStevie SmithElizabeth BowenKathleen RaineGay Taylor“What I Believe” by E.M. Forster“Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor ColeridgeLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 3 on E.M. DelafieldLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 166 on Alba de CéspedesSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailIn this special episode, Kim and Amy recount their recent visit to The Sitting Room, a unique library and literary salon in Sonoma, CA, dedicated to women's literature. Trip highlights included a stay at a Julia-Morgan-designed architectural gem in Berkeley, a private tour of Jack London State Park, and a fascinating tour of The Sitting Room’s extensive collection of books and artifacts. Listeners will also hear snippets from an engaging evening with library co-founder J.J. Wilson, making this episode a heartfelt homage to the preservation and celebration of books by women writers.Mentioned in this episode:Julia MorganThe Berkeley City ClubLitquakeJack London State ParkLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 27 on Charmian Kittredge LondonCharmian Kittredge London: Trailblazer, Author, Adventurer by Iris Jamahl DunkleThe Sitting RoomJ.J. WilsonLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 187 on Kay BoyleLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 162 on Meridel Le SeuerLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 264 on Jessica MitfordLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 140 on Zora Neale HurstonLyndall GordonA Luminous Halo: Selected Writings by Virginia WoolfThe Life of Violet: Three Early Stories by Virginia WoolfGorgeous Nothings: Emily Dickinson’s Envelope PoemsA Room of One’s Own by Virginia WoolfEtel AdnanSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailRepublished this year by Valancourt books, Rosalind’s Ashe’s 1976 gothic thriller Moths is a spine-chilling tale of supernatural seduction featuring a femme fatale who lures men to their deaths like lepidoptera to a flame. Gothic lit expert Lisa B. Kröger joins us to discuss Ashe’s knack for channeling female rage in a novel that’s been compared to Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.Mentioned in this episode:Moths by Rosalind AsheMonster, She Wrote by Lisa B. Kröger and Melanie R. AndersonToil and Trouble: A Women’s History of the Occult by Lisa B. Kröger and Melanie R. AndersonOriginal 1976 cover art of MothsLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 58 on Monster, She Wrote with Lisa B. Kröger and Melanie R. AndersonLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 240 on Angela CarterLisa TuttleRebecca by Daphne du MaurierHurricane Wake by Rosalind AsheLiterary Houses by Rosalind AsheDark Runner by Rosalind AsheSinister AffirmationsMidnight Movie clipSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailOften called “the lesbian Bible,” Radclyffe Hall’s 1928 novel The Well of Loneliness has been sparking debate for nearly a century. Banned in the UK after an infamous obscenity trial, the book remains a lightening rod for readers — some revere it, others can’t stand it. We’ll explore what makes this groundbreaking novel so remarkable (and so divisive) with returning guest Iris Jamahl Dunkle, who found inspiration in Hall’s protagonist for her forthcoming book on strong-bodied women who refuse to conform to society’s standards.Mentioned in this episode:Kim and Amy’s October 14 LitQuake appearance: “Scribbling Women” Strike Back: How Long-Silenced Voices Have Fueled a New ResistanceThe Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall (new Oxford Press edition)Iris Jamahl Dunkle’s Substack article on Radclyffe Hall“Bad Gays” podcast episode on Radclyffe HallLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 27 on Charmian Kittredge LondonLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 214 on Sanora BabbLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 152 on Janet LewisRiding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb by Iris Jamahl DunkleCharmian Kittredge London: Trailblazer, Author, Adventurer by Iris Jamahl DunkleWomb House BooksCita PressLoving Sylvia Plath: A Reclamation by Emily Van DuyneDo Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me by Mimi PondHavelock EllisEdith EllisDjuna BarnesNatalie Clifford BarneyMargaret VandenburgSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailIn this follow-up to our 2021 episode on Nancy Mitford, we’re turning the spotlight on her younger sister, Jessica (a.k.a. “Decca”) Mitford, an activist and journalist whom Time magazine called “the queen of the muckrakers.” Her influential 1963 nonfiction title The American Way of Death exposed corruption in the funeral industry and was lauded by David Bowie as one of his “Top 100” favorite books, whereas her 1960 childhood memoir, Hons and Rebels, left her own family seeing red! Joining us in conversation is Mimi Pond, whose recently-published graphic biography Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me adds new color (literally) to the Mitford mythology with wry commentary and artwork perfectly suited to England’s most outrageous debutantes.Mentioned in this episode:Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me by Mimi PondHons and Rebels by Jessica MitfordThe American Way of Death by Jessica MitfordDavid Bowie’s Top 100 Favorite BooksThe Pursuit of Love by Nancy MitfordLife in A Cold Climate by Laura ThompsonDecca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford edited by Peter Y. SussmanLifeitselfmanship: Or, How to Become a Precisely Because Man by Jessica MitfordLost Ladies of Lit Episode No 39 on Nancy MitfordLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 65 on Lucia BerlinLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 187 on Kay BoyleNancy Mitford: A Portrait by Her Sisters documentary Asthall ManorChatsworth HouseDecca and the Dectones’ rendition of “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”“Desert Island Discs” interview with Diana MosleyMimi Pond’s Mitford sisters merchandiseOver Easy by Mimi PondThe Customer is Always Wrong by Mimi PondSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailWith her witty and self-deprecating takes on dating and the single life, the narrator of Miriam Karpilove’s Diary of a Lonely Girl: Or the Battle Against Free Love is the 1918 Yiddish precursor to Girls’ Hannah Horvath, Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw, and Bridget Jones. Guest Jessica Kirzane’s English translation of the novel was published by Syracuse University Press in 2020.Support the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailIn this encore presentation, we’re reviving a literary suicide scandal that took place among some of the biggest names in the West Coast’s early 20th century bohemian society. Joining us to discuss lost poet Nora May French and her life—and death—is Catherine Prendergast, author of the riveting book The Gilded Edge: Two Audacious Women and the Cyanide Love Triangle That Shook America. Discussed in this episode: Nora May FrenchThe Gilded Edge: Two Audacious Women and the Cyanide Love Triangle That Shook America by Catherine PrendergastCarmel-by-the-Sea, California Charles Loomis“The Spanish Girl” by Nora May FrenchGeorge SterlingThe Bohemian ClubAmbrose BierceLost Ladies of Lit episode on Charmian Kittredge London with Iris DunkleJack LondonThe Huntington Library Harry Lafler “Ave Atque Vale” by Algernon Charles Swinburne“Ave Atque Vale” by Nora May FrenchSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailOriginally drafted in 1939, the Prohibition-era gangster novel The Girl by Meridel Le Sueur remained unpublished for nearly 40 years. Le Sueur used the intervening decades to transform her work into a powerful narrative, focusing on the lives of marginalized women in Depression-era America. Joining us is Dr. Rosemary Hennessy, a Professor of English at Rice University, whose most recent book, In the Company of Radical Women Writers, rediscovers the political commitments and passionate advocacy of seven writers, including Le Sueur. Mentioned in this episode:Meridel Le SueurThe Girl by Meridel Le Sueur“Women on the Breadlines” by Meridel Le Sueur“The Dread Road” by Meridel Le Seur“Annunciation” by Meridel Le Sueur“Women Know a Lot of Things” by Meridel Le SueurThe Grapes of Wrath by John SteinbeckWomen Talking novel by Miriam ToewsWomen Talking film by Sarah PolleyKansas City by Robert AltmanBadlands by Terrance Malick“Getaway Car” by Taylor Swift“My People are My Home” film by Meridel Le SueurLost Ladies of Lit episode No. 106 on Dirty Helen Cromwell’s Good Time Party GirlJohn Crawford and West End PressWorkers AllianceSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailWhat if we told you that there was an ingenious retelling of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights set in post-war Japan that also has shades of Middlemarch and The Great Gatsby? Minae Mizumura’s A True Novel, first published in 2002, checks all those boxes and more. Joining us to discuss A True Novel is Lavanya Krishnan, co-founder of the literary book subscription Boxwalla. (This episode originally aired in 2023).Discussed in this episode: A True Novel by Minae Mizumura Lavanya Krishnan, BoxwallaAlexander CheeWuthering Heights by Emily BronteThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldMiddlemarch by George Eliot “Why I Write What I Write” by Minae MizumuraWriting Routines with Minae MizumuraThe Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor DostoyevskyLight and Darkness, Continued by Minae MizumuraAn I Novel from Left to Right by Minae MizumuraA Heart So White by Javier Marías Autobiography of Red by Anne CarsonThe Diary of an Invasion by Andrey KurkovTime Shelter by Georgi GospodinovSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailWoman yearns for child, adopts orangutan instead. Disaster ensues. That's the premise of Gertrude Trevelyan's wonderfully bizarre 1932 novel, Appius and Virginia. We're joined in this encore episode by guest Brad Bigelow, whose obsession with obscure books was celebrated in the 2016 New Yorker profile “The Custodian of Forgotten Books.” Discussed in this episode: Appius and Virginia by G.E. TrevelyanEvery Which Way But Loose (1978 Film)Black MirrorThe Twilight ZoneNeglectedBooks.com“The Custodian of Forgotten Books” (The New Yorker)His Monkey Wife by John CollierDorothy RichardsonMay SinclaireFlowers for Algernon by Daniel KeyesRoom by Emma DonohueBear by Marian EngelOxford’s Lady Margaret HallNewdigate PrizeA Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf Hot-House by G.E. Trevelyan“If She Was a Bloke, She’d Still Be In Print” (The Guardian)Virginia FaulknerLost Ladies of Lit Episode 41 on Edith Lewis with Melissa HomesteadSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailElse Jerusalem’s Red House Alley is a riveting exposé of the sex industry in fin-de-siècle Vienna. A bestseller upon its 1909 publication, the novel was banned by the Nazis in 1933 (along with its 1928 film adaptation) and fell into obscurity. Boiler House Press published the first full English translation of this landmark work last year, and translator Stephanie Gorrell Ortega joins us to discuss Jerusalem’s richly-drawn account of brothel workers (based on accounts from real prostitutes). We also draw comparisons with this year’s Academy Award-winning “Best Picture,” Anora. Mentioned in this episode:Red House Alley by Else JerusalemLife and photos of Else JerusalemAnoraThe Diary of a Lost Girl by Margarite BöhmeThe DIary of a Lost Girl filmYoung Vienna movementRebellion in the Brothel documentary about the Regina Riehl trialCelestina TruxaFelix SaltenHermann BahrArthur SchnitzlerKarl WittgensteinLudwig WittgensteinPretty BabyDavid CopperfieldLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 106 on Dirty Helen CromwellLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 197 on Helen Tracy Lowe PorterSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailWhen Edna O’Brien published her debut novel The Country Girls in 1960, she was branded a “Jezebel” in her native Ireland—but that didn’t stop her from completing a poignant trilogy about a pair of friends coming of age in a world for which village life and convent school failed to prepare them. Despite initial backlash to her sexually frank depiction of young women’s lives and desires, O’Brien’s writing brought her acclaim and celebrity status—Vanity Fair dubbed her “the playgirl of the western world.” Novelist Edan Lepucki joins us to discuss the trilogy’s timeless appeal and the complicated-but-endearing friendship of characters Kate Brady and Baba Brennan.Mentioned in this episode:The Country Girls trilogy by Edna O’BrienEdna O’Brien interview on BBC’s “World Book Club”Time’s Mouth by Edan LepuckiCalifornia by Edan LepuckiWoman No. 17 by Edan LepuckiMother’s Before by Edan LepuckiItalics Mine Substack by Edan LepuckiAnne of Green Gables by L.M. MontgomeryLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 35 on Maud Hart LovelaceMrs. Beeton’s Book of Household ManagementErnest GéblerLonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryThe Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry“Laverne & Shirley”Beaches filmThe Country Girls film featuring Sam NeillSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailIf Brigid Brophy’s The King of a Rainy Country had a soundtrack, it might include the soft patter of rain on a garret window, jazz drifting from a smoky cafe, the hum of a Vespa on narrow cobblestone streets … and the obnoxious griping of a few dozen uncultured Americans! As the description suggests, Brophy’s 1956 novel has a little bit of everything  — atmosphere, nostalgia and poignancy mixed with subversive wit and madcap antics. Kim and Amy play “tour guide” examining Brophy’s life and accomplishments, including this wonderfully quirky book, recently reissued by McNally Editions.Mentioned in this episode:McNally Editions The King of a Rainy Country by Brigid BrophyMarginalia article about Brigid Brophy and Iris Murdoch by Maria PopovaLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 51 on Rosamond LehmannDusty Answer by Rosamond LehmannLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 150 on Elizabeth SmartBy Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth SmartLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 184 on Elizabeth Taylor Vs. Elizabeth TaylorBBC program “Take it Or Leave It”In Transit by Brigid BrophyHackenfeller’s Ape by Brigid BrophyThe Snowball by Brigid BrophyFifty Works of English Literature We Could Do Without by Brigid Brophy, Michael Levey and ??The Crown Princess and Other Stories by Brigid Brophy“Spleen” by BeaudelaireDeath in Venice by Thomas Mann“As You Like It” by William ShakespeareSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailLangston Hughes called Jessie Redmon Fauset “the midwife of the Harlem Renaissance” with good reason. As literary editor at The Crisis magazine from 1919 until 1926, Fauset discovered and championed some of the most important Black writers of the early 20th century. Her own novels contributed to The New Negro Movement’s cultural examination of race, class and gender through the lens of women’s experiences. Fauset’s 1928 novel Plum Bun was republished this spring by Quite Literally Books, a new publishing venture that reissues books by American women authors. The founders, Bremond Berry MacDougall and Lisa Endo Cooper, join us to discuss their mission and take a closer look at Fauset’s life and work.Mentioned in this episode:Quite Literally BooksPlum Bun by Jessie Redmon FausetThe Pink House by Nelia GardnerThe Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield FisherLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 9 on Dorothy Canfield FisherLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 140 on Zora Neale HurstonPersephone BooksVirago BooksCita PressThe Crisis magazine“What is Racial Passing?” on PBS’s The Origin of Everything“The Dinner Party That Started the Harlem Renaissance” by Veronica Chambers and Michelle May-CurryLangston HughesJean ToomerArna BontempsCountee CullenGwendolyn BennettW.E.B. DuboisCharles JohnsonAlain LockeRegina AndrewsThe Talented Tenth“The New Negro Movement”Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher MurrayPassing by Nella LarsenThere is Confusion by Jessie Redmon FausetSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailDastardly villains are no match for Capitola Black, the audacious heroine at the center of E.D.E.N. Southworth’s 1859 bestseller, The Hidden Hand. Readers so admired this literary tomboy’s pluck that Capitola became a popular baby name for decades and inspired the name of a California town. Yet few readers today are familiar with Southworth, one of the highest-earning authors of her day (to whom Louisa May Alcott even gave a subtle nod in Little Women). Rose Neal, author of a brand new biography on Southworth, joins us this week to discuss the writer who gave 19th-century young women permission to imagine lives free from convention and restraint.Mentioned in this episode:E.D.E.N. Southworth’s Hidden Hand: The Untold Story of America’s Forgotten Nineteenth-Century Author by Rose NealThe Hidden Hand by E.D.E.N. SouthworthThe Company of Books bookstore Retribution by E.D.E.N. SouthworthThe Deserted Wife by E.D.E.N. SouthworthHarriet Beecher StoweElizabeth BlackwellWide, Wide World by Susan WarnerTreasure Island by Robert Louis StevensonLittle Women by Louisa May AlcottThe Saturday VisitorThe National EraJohn Greenleaf WhittierJane SwisshelmThe Awakening by Kate ChopinSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailF. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby may be the novel everyone’s talking about this month, but let’s not forget another “Jazz Age” novel that took this country by storm. Ursula Parrott’s Ex-Wife, a tragicomic indictment of early 20th-century romance, brought the author immense fame and wealth at the time of its publication in 1929. Yet by her death in 1957 she was penniless and homeless, a fate she all but predicted in the cautionary commentary of her writing. Our episode on Parrott (with her biographer, Marsha Gordon) originally aired two years ago this week, and we’re marking Spring Break with an encore presentation — including some updates on efforts to make sure Parrott isn’t confined to obscurity again.Links: Ex-Wife by Ursula ParrottBecoming the Ex-Wife by Marsha GordonThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Sigmund FreudLost Ladies of Lit episode on Marjorie Hillis with Joanna ScuttsThe Divorcee (1930 Film) Norma ShearerSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailWho’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Not the heroines from Angela Carter’s 1979 short story collection The Bloody Chamber. The British author tackles dark, primal themes in her spin on classic fables and fairy tales, urging women to eschew victimhood, reclaim their power and bite back! Join us as we dive into this enchanted world of blood, sex and animal magnetism, and find out how Carter’s own life experiences may have prompted her to peel back the skin on tropes of subjugation. Mentioned in this episode:The Bloody Chamber by Angela CarterThe Invention of Angela Carter by Edmund GordonLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 216 on Elizabeth Garver JordanLost Ladies of Lit Episode No.150 on Elizabeth SmartThe Company of Wolves trailerThe Box of Delights by John Masefield“The Box of Delights” radio program“The Fall River Axe Murders” (or “Mise-en-Scène For a Parricide”) by Angela CarterJane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëTeresa Borrenpohl incidentNights at the Circus by Angela CarterWise Children by Angela CarterSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailWhen Lucy Irvine answered a classified ad to play Girl Friday to a real-life Robinson Crusoe on a remote tropical island, she embarked on an enthralling—and at times harrowing—year-long adventure. The result was her bestselling 1983 memoir, Castaway, a beautifully-written tale of survival. We’re diving into Irvine’s unforgettable story with special guest Francesca Segal, whose own island-centric novel, Welcome to Glorious Tuga, was recently optioned for TV by See-Saw Films.Mentioned in this episode:Castaway by Lucy IrvineThe Lucy Irvine FoundationWelcome to Glorgious Tuga by Francesca SegalRunaway and Faraway by Lucy IrvineThe Islander by Gerald KingslandThe Secret Life of a Schoolgirl by Rosemary KingslandCastaway 1986 film trailer starring Amanda Donohoe and Oliver ReedWild by Cheryl Strayed“Alone” on the History ChannelSee-Saw FilmsOne is One by Lucy IrvineThe Innocents by Francesca SegalSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailThe recent hatching of baby eaglets in Big Bear, CA has Amy thinking a lot about patriotism and what it actually means in turbulent times for our country. Lost lady of lit Katharine Lee Bates — a staunch activist for social justice who decried America’s isolationist policies — must have considered the same when, during a trip across the country in 1893, she penned what would eventually become the lyrics to “America the Beautiful.” The original words to her poem are a bit more pointed than the version we know today, offering a new perspective on pure (but not blind) patriotism.Mentioned in this episode:Big Bear Eagle CamFriends of Big Bear ValleyKatharine Lee Bates“America the Beautiful” and changing lyrics over time“America the Beautiful”: The Stirring True Story Behind our Nation’s Favorite Song by Lynn SherrChicago Columbian Exposition of 1893“America the Beautiful” rendition by Ray Charles“Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride” by Katharine Lee BatesSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailReligious mystics Margery of Kempe and Julian of Norwich lived in close proximity to one another in time and place, yet the lives of these two medieval women couldn’t have been more different. One traveled the world in relentless pursuit of spiritual validation, while the other withdrew into a walled cell. One boldly proclaimed her visions of Christ while the other recorded quiet revelations. One authored the first autobiography in English while the other penned the first known book in English by a woman. But here’s where it gets truly fascinating: these two women actually met—a fateful encounter depicted in guest Victoria MacKenzie’s award-winning debut novel, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain. Join us as we discuss these two incredible women whose accounts of divine encounters were destined for rediscovery centuries after being lost to time.Mentioned in this episodeThe British Library’s exhibit: Medieval Women: In Their Own WordsHighgate CemeteryFor Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain by Victoria MacKenzieThe Book of Margery KempeRevelations of Divine Love by Julian of NorwichBridget of SwedenLost Ladies of Lit podcast Episode No. 164 on Christine de PizanLost Ladies of Lit podcast Episode No. 34 on Anna KomneneLost Ladies of Lit podcast Episode No. 70 on Julian BernersSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailHow do you engage with others in a polarized society? Early 19-century writer and freethinker Frances “Fanny” Wright offers an ostensible how-to manual in the witty didactic novel she penned at age 19, A Few Days in Athens. Wright’s radical ideas garnered her the praise of Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette and Walt Whitman, to name a few, but detractors dubbed her “The Red Harlot of Infidelity.” Tristra Yeager and Eleanor Rust, hosts of the 2024 podcast “Frances Wright: America’s Forgotten Radical,” join us to discuss Wright’s historical importance and relevance to today’s political and cultural conversations.Mentioned in this episode:“Frances Wright: America’s Forgotten Radical” podcastA Few Days in Athens by Frances WrightViews of Society and Manners in America by Frances WrightFrances Wright’s grave in Spring Grove CemeteryThe Marquis de LafayetteThomas JeffersonWalt WhitmanEpicurusThe StoicsNew Harmony, IndianaRobert OwenRobert Dale OwenNashoba CommunityShaker Village in Pleasant Hill, KYThe Scottish EnlightenmentThe Second Great AwakeningSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailOne hundred years ago this week, The New Yorker published its first issue. A few months later, the magazine’s first (and for decades, only) female editor joined the staff. Katharine S. White spent the better part of the next 50 years wielding her pen and her editorial influence there, carefully tending to an ever-growing stable of talented (sometimes high-maintenance) writers and shaping the magazine into a cultural powerhouse. Biographer Amy Reading joins us to discuss White’s life, legacy and undeniable importance in the history of 20th-century American letters.Mentioned in this episode:The World She Edited: Katharine S. White at The New Yorker by Amy ReadingKatharine S. WhiteElizabeth Shepley SergeantE.B. WhiteKatharine and E.B. White’s farm in Blue Hill, MaineSt. Nicholas magazineAmerican Heritage article on St. Nicholas magazineWomen authors discovered/edited by Katharine WhiteLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 187 on Kay BoyleLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 184 on Elizabeth TaylorLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 158 on Sylvia Townsend WarnerLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 168 on Mary McCarthyLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 131 on Dorothy ParkerHenry Seidel CanbyFillmore HydeHarold RossThe Mark Inside: A Perfect Swindle, a Cunning Revenge, and a Small History of the Big Con by Amy ReadingAbout Town: The New Yorker and the World it Made by Ben YagodaAmy Reading’s “Open Book” SubstackSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailJanuary was dismal, but we’re distracting ourselves with something shiny in this first new full-length episode of the year. Catbird Chief Creative Officer Leigh Batnick Plessner joins us to explore three works by women writers, each of whom used jewelry as a powerful storytelling device. Louise de Vilmorin, Maria Edgeworth and Dorothy Parker feature diamond earrings, friendship bracelets and a pearl necklace, respectively, to reflect the deepest desires and ambitions of the characters who wore them. We hope this little gem of an episode helps you find some beauty and meaning in challenging times.Mentioned in this episode:Catbird Madame de by Louise de Vilmorin“The Bracelets” by Maria Edgeworth“The Standard of Living” by Dorothy ParkerLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 77 on Daisy FellowesLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 39 on Nancy MitfordDuff Cooper“Chichi Devil” (New York Times) by Christopher PetkanasThe Earrings of Madame de by Max OphulsEssay by Molly Haskell on The Earrings of Madame deThe Lovers and Julietta by Louise de VilmorinThe Absentee, Castle Rackrent and Belinda by Maria EdgeworthLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 220 on Christina Rossetti“The Cost of the Necklace in Dorothy Parker’s ‘The Standard of Living’” by Frederik Tydal“Peculiar Dearness: Sentimental Commerce in Maria Edgeworth’s ‘The Bracelets’” by Fiona RobinsonArticle on the historical value of pearls by Dr. Akitsugu Sato and Dr. Laurent E. Cartier“The Pearls That Built Cartier”Naomi by Jun'ichSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailIf you’re drawn to the hefty tomes of Victorian authors Anthony Trollope and George Eliot, we can pretty much guarantee you’ll enjoy this week’s novel, Hester, as much as we did. Margaret Oliphant is said to have been one of Queen Victoria’s favorite novelists, and she counted J.M. Barrie and Robert Louis Stevenson among her many fans. Joining us to discuss Hester is New York Times columnist and pediatrician Dr. Perri Klass. Discussed in this episode: Hester by Margaret OliphantDr. Perri KlassGeorge EliotAnthony TrollopeMiddlemarch by George EliotBlackwoods MagazineThe Brontes Henry JamesThe Best Medicine by Perri KlassCharles DickensPride and Prejudice by Jane AustenDorothea BrookeThe Chronicles of Barsetshire by Anthony TrollopeThe Chronicles of Carlingford by Margaret OliphantReach Out and ReadMiss Marjoriebanks by Margaret OliphantSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailIn this week's hiatus replay, we’re focusing on one of Ukraine’s best-known poets and playwrights, Laryssa Kosach, who wrote under the pen name Lesya Ukrainka. Her play The Forest Song is a masterpiece of Ukrainian drama. Discussed in this episode: The Forest Song by Lesya UkrainkaLooking for Trouble by Virginia CowlesLost Ladies of Lit episode on Virginia Cowles’ Looking for Trouble Invisible Battalion (2017 documentary)“Ukraine Isn’t Part of Little Russia” (KCRW) Executed RenaissanceDead Poets Society (1989 film)A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William ShakespearePan’s Labyrinth (2006 film)“Contra Spem Spero” by Lesya UkrainkaSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailNovelist and university professor Joy Castro returns to the show to discuss the 1952 novel Forbidden Notebook by Cuban-Italian writer Alba de Cespedes. In a New York Times review of a 1958 English edition of this novel, de Céspedes was called “one of the few distinguished women writers since Colette to grapple effectively with what it is to be a woman.” Discussed in this episode: Forbidden Notebook by Alba de CéspedesHer Side of the Story by Alba de CéspedesMuriel Rukeyser poem “Kathë Kollwitz”Hell or High Water by Joy CastroFlight Risk by Joy CastroIsland of Bones by Joy CastroOne Brilliant Flame by Joy CastroThe Truth Book by Joy Castro“Burning It Down” by Joy CastroLost Ladies of Lit episode on Margery LatimerLost Ladies of Lit episode on E.M. DelafieldLost Ladies of Lit episode on Miriam KarpiloveLost Ladies of Lit episode on Lorraine HansberryLiterary scholar Merve EmreCarlos Manuel de CéspedesMariama Bâ’s So Long a LetterMercé RodoredaElena FerranteKatherine MansfieldVirginia Woolf’s Mrs. DallowayKate Chopin’s The AwakeningNatalia Ginsburg’s essay “On Women” in Mercurio and a response by Alba de CéspedesAmerica Ferrera speech in Barbie movieReal Women Have CurvesRhi JohnsonSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailAt the age of eight, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (later known by her pen name Zitkála-Šá) left her Yankton Dakota reservation to attend a missionary boarding school for Native Americans, a harsh and abusive experience about which she eventually wrote a series of articles published in The Atlantic Monthly. Jessi Haley, editorial director of Cita Press (which just published a free anthology of the author’s work) joins Yankton Dakota poet Erin Marie Lynch to discuss how Zitkála-Šá’s sense of cultural displacement impacted her life and literary output.Mentioned in this episode:Free edition of Planted in a Strange Earth: Selected Writings of Zitkála-Šá by Cita PressCita Press’s Substack newsletter on Zitkála-ŠáRemoval Acts by Erin Marie LynchZitkála-ŠáElla Cara DeloriaStanding Rock Sioux TribeYankton Dakota peopleSugarcane 2024 documentaryAir/Light magazineJoe Biden’s October 2024 federal apology to Indigenous AmericansCarlisle Indian Industrial SchoolRichard Henry PrattEarlham CollegeThe Sun Dance OperaPBS’s “Unladylike” documentary episode on Zitkála-ŠáKillers of the Flower Moon by David Grann “Oklahoma’s Poor Rich Indians: An Orgy of Graft and Exploitation of the Five Civilized Tribes, Legalized Robbery” by Zitkála-ŠáP. Jane Hafen’s full PBS interview on  Zitkála-ŠáOral History Project from the National Native American Boarding School Healing CoalitionDreams and Thunder by P. Jane HafenHelp Indians Help Themselves: The Later Writings of Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (Zitkála-Sá) by P. Jane HafenFree edition of Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons by Cita PressU.S. Mint’s Support the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailCharmed by her friend Lewis Carroll’s children’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Victorian poet Christina Rossetti followed suit nearly a decade later with her own children’s book — one that alludes to the “Alice” tale while also offering a more clear-eyed view of girls’ duties, even in topsy-turvy dream worlds. Ayana Christie, Chief Product Officer of Bond & Grace, joins us for a discussion this week on Rossetti’s 1874 work Speaking Likenesses and helps us draw comparisons with Carroll’s seminal tale.Mentioned in this episode:Speaking Likenesses by Christina RossettiBond & Grace edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis CarrollBond & Grace edtiion of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson BurnettBond & Grace edition of Frankenstein by Mary ShelleyChristina Rossetti“Goblin Market” by Christina RossettiGabriele RossettiDante Gabriel RossettiThe Rosetti family photographic portrait by Lewis CarrollChristina Rossetti: A Writer’s Life by Jan MarshLewis Carroll (a.k.a. Charles Dodgson)The Liddell sistersThe real-life Alice in WonderlandThe Princess Bride film“Be Our Guest” number from Beauty & the BeastSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

Send us Fan MailMargaret Drabble’s 1965 novel The Millstone offers a nuanced portrayal of single motherhood in 1960s London. Author Carrie Mullins, whose 2024 nonfiction work The Book of Mothers explores literary depictions of motherhood, joins us to discuss Drabble’s fearless protagonist, Rosamund. Together, we explore how The Millstone captures the joys and burdens of motherhood, and how Drabble’s sharp, ahead-of-its-time portrayal speaks to contemporary readers.Mentioned in this episode:The Book of Mothers: How Literature Can Help Us Reinvent Modern Motherhood by Carrie MullinsThe Millstone by Margaret DrabbleA Touch of Love starring Sandy Dennis and Ian McKellanA.S. ByattCambride Ladies Dining SocietyLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 139 on Heartburn by Nora EphronLittle Women by Louisa May Alcott“Little Women” and the Marmee ProblemThe Color Purple by Alice WalkerPride & Prejudiceby Jane AustenMadame Bovary by Gustave FlaubertSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comSubscribe to our substack newsletter.Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast