Lost Ladies of Lit
Episodes
Nora Ephron’s Heartburn Turns 40
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s mini, we discuss Nora Ephron’s 1983 autobiographical novel Heartburn, inspired by the breakdown of her marriage with ...
Ursula Parrott — Ex-Wife with Marsha Gordon
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThis is the Jazz Age novel we should have read in high school! Ursula Parrott’s Ex-Wife was an instant bestseller when it was publishe...
Jenny Diski and Doris Lessing
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s mini, we take a look at British writer Jenny Diski and her relationship with famed novelist Doris Lessing, who took a t...
Pauline E. Hopkins — Of One Blood with Eurie Dahn and Brian Sweeney
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWith its speculative plot including an expedition through the desert, a cryptic treasure map, secret chambers, and a run-in with an anci...
The Paper Dolls of Zelda Fitzgerald
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textDid you know that novelist and iconic flapper Zelda Fitgerald was also an accomplished artist? In 1926, she began creating a series of p...
Jane and Anna Maria Porter with Devoney Looser
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSisters Jane and Anna Maria Porters’ books took Regency-era England by storm just a few years ahead of Jane Austen, and their lives we...
“Dirty” Books
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textNo, we’re not talking about that kind of “dirty,” we’re talking about the germy kind as it relates to stuff that’s been found ...
Minae Mizumura — A True Novel with Lavanya Krishnan
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat if we told you that there was an ingenious retelling of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights set in post-war Japan that also has shad...
Lost Ladies of Music with Leah Broad
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textGuest Dr. Leah Broad joins us from Oxford University’s Christ Church to discuss Quartet, her acclaimed new biography of four British c...
Han Suyin — Winter Love
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textBorn to a Chinese father and a Belgian mother, Han Suyin qualified as a doctor in London before moving to Hong Kong to practice medicine...
Twins In Fiction
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s mini, we’re talking about twins in fiction, from Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet and Stephen King’s The Shining to so...
Margaret Oliphant — Hester with Perri Klass
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIf you’re drawn to the hefty tomes of Victorian authors Anthony Trollope and George Eliot, we can pretty much guarantee you’ll enjoy...
Katrina Trask and the Ghosts of Yaddo
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s mini we discuss the renowned Yaddo Artists’ Colony and the bittersweet story of the woman who envisioned this sylvan ...
Elinor Glyn — Three Weeks with Hilary A. Hallett
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textLike the sexually-liberated Tiger Queen from her scandalous bestselling 1907 novel Three Weeks, Elinor Glyn was bold, provocative and gl...
Hiatus Replay: Elizabeth Stoddard — The Morgesons with Rachel Vorona Cote
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textNew episodes beginning Feb 7. This episode originally aired in June 2021. Like her contemporary Herman Melville, New England writer Eliz...
Hiatus Replay: Margaret Wolfe Hungerford — Molly Bawn with Jessica Callahan
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWe're back with a full episode on Feb. 7. Irish novelist Margaret Wolfe Hungerford’s light Victorian-era romances were known thro...
Hiatus Replay: Marthe Bibesco — The Green Parrot with Lauren Cerand
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWe're back with new episodes on February 7! The New York Times called The Green Parrot “A strange and beautiful story, with the f...
Hiatus Replay: Sui Sin Far — Mrs. Spring Fragrance with Victoria Namkung
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWE'RE BACK WITH A NEW EPISODE ON FEBRUARY 7, 2023. In this week’s episode, Amy and Kim have a conversation about Sui Sin Far and ...
Hiatus Replay: Constance Fenimore Woolson — Anne with Anne Boyd Rioux
03 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWE'RE BACK WITH A NEW EPISODE ON FEBRUARY 7, 2023. In this episode, Kim and Amy have a conversation about Constance Fenimore Woolso...
Victorian Parlour Games
27 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe Victorian era has been called the golden age of parlour games, and we share some interesting ones in this week’s mini episode. Let...
Stories for Christmas and the Festive Season
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJoin us for a chat about the fantastic new book from the British Library Women Writers Series, Stories for Christmas and the Festive Sea...
The Woman of Colour: A Tale with Leigh-Michil George
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textPublished anonymously six years prior to Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park—yet largely ignored for two centuries—the Regency-era episto...
Our Covid Binges
06 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWe managed to contract our first cases of Covid the very same week. If there’s one silver lining, it was getting to catch up on the so...
Dorothy Richardson — Dawn’s Left Hand with Scott McCracken and Brad Bigelow
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a text“Criminally neglected” author Dorothy Richardson (1873-1957) is credited with writing the first stream-of-consciousness novel, which...
Thanksgiving-ish Books and Films
22 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textFor this week’s mini, we share the origin story of our writing partnership and chat about some books, TV shows, and films set in Colon...
Elsie Robinson with Allison Gilbert
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textA newspaper columnist from the first half of the 20th century, Elsie Robinson walked away from a life of privilege in search of personal...
America’s First Female Mayor
08 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSusanna M. Salter was a 27-year old political activist when she was placed on the 1860 Argonia, Kansas ballot as a joke. She became the ...
Rona Jaffe — The Best of Everything with Josh Lambert
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textRona Jaffe was only 27 when she rose to stardom with her 1958 novel, The Best of Everything, a roman á clef about the adventures of fou...
May Agnes Fleming — The Midnight Queen with Brian Busby
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textGothic thriller The Midnight Queen (1863) was written by May Agnes Fleming, a prolific Canadian author who specialized in churning out b...
Medical Treatment of Women and Mothers with Alena Dillon
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAuthor Alena Dillon joins us for this week’s mini to discuss the medical treatment of women and mothers and how it’s evolved over ti...
Anne Hampton Brewster — St. Martin’s Summer with Etta Madden
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAnne Hampton Brewster’s florid 1866 novel St. Martin’s Summer is set mostly in Italy and inspired by her experiences as a young, sin...
Lola Ridge with Terese Svoboda
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textLola Ridge was once considered one of America's preeminent poets, on par with E.E. Cummings, William Carlos Williams, T.S. Eliot, E...
Cabinets of Curiosities & The Museum of Jurassic Technology
27 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textCue the Twin Peaks theme music. In this week’s mini, we take a Lynchian detour to discuss the book Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder by...
Helen Cromwell — Good Time Party Girl with Christina Ward
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textFollowing her straight-laced Edwardian-era upbringing, “Dirty” Helen Cromwell became a call girl-turned-madame, bootlegger, and lege...
Odds & Ends
13 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s mini episode, we share some interesting odds and ends related to recent episodes, including a “no, she didn’t!” l...
Miriam Michelson — The Superwoman with Lori Harrison-Kahan
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textBefore she became a bestselling fiction writer whose work was deemed “catchy as ragtime,” Miriam Michelson made a name for herself a...
Laura Valentine -- The Secret Shakespeare Editor
30 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn today’s mini episode, we talk about a lady novelist who is also thought to have secretly edited a Victorian-era edition of Shakespe...
Margaret Kennedy — Troy Chimneys
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWe think both Freud and Jane Austen might approve of one-time bestselling novelist and Austen biographer Margaret Kennedy’s delightful...
Sylvia Beach and Ulysses
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s mini, we’re talking about Sylvia Beach, the American who in 1919 founded the beloved bookshop Shakespeare and Company...
Nora May French with Catherine Prendergast
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textFor our 100th episode (!), we’re reviving a lost literary scandal that took place among some of the biggest names in the West Coast’...
Mabel Walker Willebrandt — First Lady of Law
02 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAs assistant attorney general of the United States from 1921 until 1929, Mabel Walker Willebrandt was the highest-ranking woman in the f...
Heterodoxy with Joanna Scutts
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textLiterary critic and historian Joanna Scutts joins us to discuss Heterodoxy, a women-only debating group from the early 20th century that...
Lost Ladies of Art with Sara Woster
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJoining us for this week’s mini on four fascinating lost lady artists (Gertrude Abercrombie, Augusta Savage, Florine Stettheimer, and ...
Debora Vogel — Acacias Bloom with Juliette Bretan
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textPolish Jewish Modernist writer Debora Vogel’s poetry and literary “montages” pushed the boundaries of what literature could be. Jo...
Merchant Ivory Fan Club
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s mini, we dig deep into the back catalog of Merchant Ivory (Jhabvala) films to discuss some of their lesser known gems a...
Special Bonus Episode: Penelope Mortimer — Daddy's Gone A-Hunting
01 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textProfoundly dismayed by the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a...
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala — Heat and Dust with Brigitte Hales
28 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAs Merchant Ivory super fans, we were surprised (and chagrined!) that we’d been unaware of Ismael Merchant and James Ivory’s longtim...
A Very Brief History of the Proust Questionnaire
21 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJoin us as we uncover a short history of the Proust Questionnaire, from how it got its name to some of the other notable writers from hi...
Rose Macaulay — What Not with Kate Macdonald
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhat Not, Rose Macaulay’s 1918 wild and witty speculative novel of post-First World War eugenics, influenced Aldous Huxley’s Brave N...
Literal Beach Reads
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textFor this week’s mini, we’re taking “beach reads” literally, and have lined up a list of novels set at or near the seaside. Our s...
Tess Slesinger — The Unpossessed with Paula Rabinowitz and Peter Davis
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJoining us to discuss Tess Slesinger and her brilliant 1934 novel, The Unpossessed, is her son, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker and ...
Maud Wagner — Lost Lady of Tattoo Art
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJoin us as we learn more about the first known female tattoo artist in the United States, Maud Wagner. Born in 1877, Maud grew up to bec...
Kay Dick — They with Lucy Scholes
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textLucy Scholes rejoins us this week to discuss Kay Dick and her lost dystopian masterpiece from 1977, They, which has been newly republish...
Books in the Vein of Downton Abbey
10 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textFrom the book that originally inspired Julian Fellowes to write the screenplays for both Gosford Park and Downton Abbey to Elizabeth Jan...
Mary Taylor — Miss Miles with Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney
03 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textDid you know that Charlotte Brontë’s close friend Mary Taylor was also a novelist? Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney, who co-a...
Quilt-Making As a Feminist, Political Act
26 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s mini, we’re exploring the work of contemporary fine artists Faith Ringgold and Bisa Butler, whose quilts are inspired...
Dorothy Evelyn Smith — O, the Brave Music with Simon Thomas
19 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn 2021, the British Library Women Writers Series published an edition of Dorothy Evelyn’s Smith’s quietly joyful and sometimes dark...
The Polarizing Ambiguities of Motherhood in Books
12 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s mini episode on “unnatural mothers,” we discuss classics such as Anna Karenina and The Awakening and more contempor...
Hilma Wolitzer — Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket
05 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJoin us for a wonderfully funny and poignant conversation about life, death, and motherhood with award-winning writer Hilma Wolitzer. He...
Ukrainian Poet Lesya Ukrainka’s The Forest Song
29 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn today’s mini episode, we’re focusing on one of Ukraine’s best-known poets and playwrights, Laryssa Kosach, who wrote under the ...
Frances Harper — Iola Leroy with Dr. Koritha Mitchell
22 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAbolitionist, suffragist, and writer Frances Harper was widely acclaimed in her day and one of the first African-American women to be pu...
The Gillian Beer Fan Club
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s mini, we’re discussing the life and work of literary critic Gillian Beer whose classic scholarly publication from 198...
Daisy Fellowes — Sundays with Leigh Plessner
08 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textCatbird’s Leigh Plessner joins us to discuss the 1931 novella Sundays and its fascinating author, French socialite Daisy Fellowes. Hei...
Lost Ladies of Aviation
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s mini, we’ll tell you all about fly girls Beryl Markham and Amy Johnson, pioneering aviators from the 1930s whose fasc...
Noel Streatfeild — Ballet Shoes and The Whicharts with Wendy-Marie Chabot
22 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textDid you know that Noel Streatfeild’s 1936 children’s book Ballet Shoes is based on her earlier novel The Whicharts, a tawdrier and n...
A Short History of Carousels
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textInspired by Dorothy B. Hughes’s noir novel Ride the Pink Horse, we’re exploring the fascinating history of merry-go-rounds in life a...
Dorothy B. Hughes — The Expendable Man
08 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIt’s a mystery to us why novelist Dorothy B. Hughes isn’t as well known as her fellow mid-century hardboiled/noir counterparts Raymo...
Go Ask Alice James
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textBedridden from a young age and diagnosed with the catchall term “hysteria,” Henry and William James’s sister, Alice, kept an accou...
Gene Stratton-Porter — A Girl of the Limberlost with Sadie Stein
25 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textNew York Times book editor and returning guest Sadie Stein joins us to discuss the semi-lurid, yet weirdly wonderful 1909 novel A Girl o...
Fowl is Fair
18 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textFrom the 14th century’s The Boke of St. Albans by Juliana Berners to Lauren Groff’s latest novel, Matrix, join us for a discussion o...
Margery Latimer — We Are Incredible with Joy Castro
11 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textNovelist and university professor Joy Castro joins us to discuss Margery Latimer, an all-but-forgotten early 20th century writer whose w...
The Happy New Year Episode -- Bennington Podcast, Books We Read, and More!
04 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWe have so many exciting episodes lined up for 2022, but before we surge (ahem!) into the new year, we want to dish about the Once Upon ...
Virginia Cowles — Looking for Trouble with Judith Mackrell
28 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textGuest Judith Mackrell’s thrilling 2021 book The Correspondents: Six Women Writers on the Front Lines of World War II sets the stage fo...
“The Wicked Editor’s Christmas Dream” by Alice Mary Vince
21 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIt’s the ghosts of Christmas present here with a holiday mini episode featuring the Victorian short story “The Wicked Editor’s Chr...
Lucia Berlin — A Manual for Cleaning Women with Mimi Pond
14 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textLucia Berlin has been called one of America's "best kept secrets.” We’ll be discussing Berlin’s engrossing short short s...
Much Better than CATS — Esther Averill’s Jenny and the Cat Club
07 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textKim’s niece Chloe joins us for this mini episode on Esther Averill’s quirky and beloved children’s series Jenny and the Cat Club. ...
M.F.K. Fisher — How to Cook a Wolf with Anne Zimmerman
30 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textAnne Zimmerman, author of the 2011 biography An Extravagant Hunger: The Passionate Years of M.F.K. Fisher, joins us to discuss Fisher an...
Louisa May Alcott’s “An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving”
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThere’s always something to be thankful for, and this year, we’re especially thankful for you, our listeners! Join us as we discuss ...
Simone de Beauvoir — The Inseparables with Lauren Elkin
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSimone de Beauvoir’s lost novella The Inseparables was once deemed “too intimate” to publish. Newly found, it’s been released to...
The Preserved Girl-Corpse of Ancient Rome
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn last week’s episode we noted that, while at Oxford in the 1920s, author Gertrude Trevelyan was the first woman to be awarded the Ne...
G.E. Trevelyan — Appius and Virginia with Brad Bigelow
02 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textOur guest Brad Bigelow’s obsession with obscure books was celebrated in the 2016 New Yorker profile “The Custodian of Forgotten Book...
Monster, She Wrote with Melanie R. Anderson and Lisa Kröger
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textLost ladies of the supernatural, the terrifying, and the macabre rise from the dead for our spooktacular discussion with Dr. Melanie R. ...
Ida Craddock with Amy Sohn
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textNew York Times-bestselling author Amy Sohn joins us to discuss the fascinating life of Ida Craddock, a self-taught Victorian sex expert,...
Swiping Right (and Left) in the Regency Era
12 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textFrom Mr. Darcy and billet doux to buzzkill chaperones and dumb cake (it’s a thing), we take a closer look at courtship in the Regency ...
Ouida — Moths
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe eccentric Victorian-era novelist Ouida wrote more than 40 novels and hobnobbed with literary notables such as Robert Browning, Oscar...
Dare Wright and The Lonely Doll Series
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s mini, Amy and Kim discuss the fascinating life and work of “Lonely Doll” series creator, Dare Wright, whose biograp...
Emma Wolf — Other Things Being Equal with Sarah Seltzer
21 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textEmma Wolf, the first American Jewish writer to be published by the most important presses of her time, lived a life of privilege in uppe...
It’s Our One-Year Anniversary Episode!
14 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThanks to our incredible guests and our equally incredible listeners, we’re celebrating our one-year anniversary! It’s been a year o...
Rosamond Lehmann — Dusty Answer with Lucy Scholes
06 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIn this week’s episode, our guest is Lucy Scholes, author of the monthly column Re-Covered for The Paris Review and host of the Ourshe...
Literary Sisters, Twisted & Otherwise
31 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textWhether in fiction or in real life, the relationship between literary sisters can range anywhere from the incredibly productive to the—...
Aphra Behn — The History of a Nun with Dr. Sarah Raff
24 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textVirginia Woolf wrote that “All women together ought to let flowers fall on the tomb of Aphra Behn… for it was she who earned them th...
For Whom The Bell Rings -- Backpacks and Boarding Schools
17 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textJust in time for what’s potentially the most anticipated back-to-school season ever, we go beyond John Knowles’s A Separate Peace an...
Jane and Mary Findlater — Crossriggs with Julie and Shawna Benson
10 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textSisters Jane and Mary Findlater were literary celebrities in their day and counted the likes of Henry James, Virginia Woolf and Rudyard ...
Let Genius Burn — Louisa May Alcott
03 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThink you know everything there is to know about Louisa May Alcott? Test your knowledge on this week’s mini episode as we chat with th...
Edna Ferber — So Big with Dr. Caroline Frick
27 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textEdna Ferber’s So Big was the top-selling novel of 1924 and it won a Pulitzer Prize, yet it’s little known now! Wildly popular in its...
Disaster to the Wench with Nina Berry & Brenda Pontiff
20 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIf you love the Golden Age of cinema, this one’s for you! Two of the hosts from the fun new YouTube show Disaster to the Wench join us...
Lorraine Hansberry — A Raisin in the Sun with Dr. Soyica Diggs Colbert
13 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textThe Washington Post called Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun “one of a handful of great American plays—it belongs in the in...
Mary Astell — The First Feminist
06 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textBorn a generation before Mary Wollstonecraft, seventeenth-century English philosopher Mary Astell wrote the groundbreaking works A Serio...
Edith Lewis & Willa Cather with Melissa Homestead
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textEdith Lewis’s editorial input helped shape Willa Cather’s writing for almost four decades—and for that same length of time, Willa ...
Judith Love Cohen — a.ka. Jack Black’s Mom
22 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send us a textIf you type “Judith Love Cohen” into your search bar, the headlines about her can be summed up in three words, “Jack Black’s mom...