Twentieth-Century American Women’s Fiction : A Critical Introduction

In this book Guy Reynolds offers a wide-ranging introduction to American women writers. He discusses a wide range of authors from Sarah Orne Jewett to Toni Morrison and the common themes and genres that they have covered. He presents detailed readings of both classic and little-known fictions, placing works in the social and historical contexts of their times. Incisive and detailed, this book will interest readers and students in this increasingly important field of study. Introduction: The Genealogy Of American Women's Narrative, 1892-1995 -- 'sickbed Deathbed Birthbed': Therapy And Writing In The 1890s -- Re-making The Home, 1909-33: Gertrude Stein, Edith Wharton, Mary Antin -- Modernist Geographies: Space In The Fiction Of Willa Cather, Djuna Barnes And Gertrude Stein -- The Interwar Scoail Problem Novel: Zora Neale Hurston, Nella Larsen, Jessie Fauset, Agnes Smedley -- 'there Are So Many Horrible Examples Of Regional Writers, And The South Is Loaded': Eudora Welty, Caroline Gordon, Katherine Anne Porter, Flannery O'connor -- Dysfunctional Realism: Ann Petry, Elizabeth Hardwick, Jean Stafford, Jane Bowles -- 'what's Happening In America': Sylvia Plath, Susan Sontag, Joyce Carol Oates -- Fictions For The Village: Toni Morrison, Maxine Hong Kingston, Cynthia Ozick. Guy Reynolds. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 238-250) And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction: the Genealogy of American Women’s Narrative, 1892–1995....Pages 1-10 ‘Sickbed Deathbed Birthbed’....Pages 11-37 Re-making the Home, 1909–33....Pages 38-63 Modernist Geographies....Pages 64-87 The Interwar Social Problem Novel....Pages 88-113 ‘There are So Many Horrible Examples of Regional Writers, and the South is Loaded’....Pages 114-145 Dysfunctional Realism....Pages 146-167 ‘What’s Happening in America’....Pages 168-194 Fictions for the Village....Pages 195-218 Back Matter....Pages 219-253 "This book offers a wide-ranging introduction to American women writers and their work from Sarah Orne Jewett to Toni Morrison. Through their literature American women have established their identity and created new ways of thinking about themselves and their society.",BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This Introduction To American Women Writers Discusses Authors From Sarah Orne Jewett To Toni Morrison And The Common Themes And Genres That They Have Covered. It Presents Readings Of Both Classic And Little-known Fiction, Placing Works In The Social And Historical Contexts Of Their Times. This introduction to American women writers discusses authors from Sarah Orne Jewett to Toni Morrison and the common themes and genres that they have covered. Reynolds analyses canonical and lesser known works