A new literature springs up in the new world -- Revolution: women's rights and women's writing -- Their native land -- Finding a form -- Masterpieces and mass markets -- Slavery, race, and women's writing -- The Civil War -- The coming woman -- American sibyls -- New women -- The golden morrow -- Against women's writing: Wharton and Cather -- You might as well live -- The Great Depression -- The 1940s: World War II and after -- The 1950s: the three faces of Eve -- The 1960s: live or die -- The 1970s: the will to change -- The 1980s: on the jury -- The 1990s: anything she wants
Summary
Elaine Showalter, author of the classic A Literature of Their Own, now turns to her own heritage, bringing us an unprecedented literary landmark: the first comprehensive history of American women writers from 1650 to the present
