"Launched into society at a glorious and very expensive debutante ball, Lily sees a world of unlimited possibility before her. But her fathers announcement that he is financially ruined, followed quickly by his death, leave Lily and her mother with only one "asset"Lilys extraordinary beauty and charm. At the age of 29, now orphaned, Lily lives with an aunt who offers minimum, often grudging, hospitality and financial support. A wealthy husband could...

"The Stone Diaries is one ordinary woman's story of her journey through life. Born in 1905, Daisy Stone Goodwill drifts through the roles of child, wife, widow, and mother, and finally into her old age. Bewildered by her inability to understand her place in her own life, Daisy attempts to find a way to tell her story within a novel that is itself about the limitations of autobiography."--BOOK JACKET. "Her life is vivid with incident, and yet she feels...

"Work: A Story of Experience" by Louisa May Alcott immerses readers in the compelling narrative of Christie Devon, a young woman navigating the post-Civil War landscape in pursuit of independence and purpose. Set against the backdrop of the societal constraints of the era, this semi-autobiographical novel chronicles Christie's multifaceted journey through various jobs, each offering a glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of a woman seeking self-reliance. Alcott's...

Written during the final stages of her illness, this was Katherine Mansfield's last collection of stories to be published in her lifetime. Comprising fifteen stories, this edition comes with an introduction and notes by Lorna Sage.

A satiric look at the state of the union centers on a relocated Duluth and its assorted politicians, policemen and women, terrestrial and extraterrestrial aliens, Hispanics, feminists, mobsters, and other minorities.

First published in 1873, The Gilded Age is both a biting satire and a revealing portrait of post-Civil War America-an age of corruption when crooked land speculators, ruthless bankers, and dishonest politicians voraciously took advantage of the nation's peacetime optimism. With his characteristic wit and perception, Mark Twain and his collaborator, Charles Dudley Warner, attack the greed, lust, and naivete of their own time in a work which endures...

A reprint of Harlem Renaissance writer Nella Larsen's 1929 novel in which Irene, an African-American woman with a comfortable life, is disturbed by the return of a childhood friend, Clare, who has passed for white since adolescence and now wants to rejoin the African-American community.