Literary Ladies Guide

The Pink House by Nelia Gardner White is a 1950 novel that has the feel of a timeless classic. Yet like the rest of Gardner’s large body of work, it fell out of print and remained obscure and hard to find.

That is, until recently, when Independent press Quite Literally Books reissued it in a handsome new edition in 2025.

It’s surprising that a writer of her caliber would be so thoroughly forgotten. Her books were well reviewed and sold well. She was even a pioneer in the realm of what we now call biofiction: Daughter of Time (1942) is a novelization of the tragically brief and brilliant life of short story master Katherine Mansfield. It was warmly reviewed in the New York Times. Read More→

In celebrating the success of Zohran Mamdani, the youthful maverick who took the office of New York City mayor in 2025, we might give credit where due to his mother, Mira Nair. She has been successful and influential in her own right as a filmmaker and director.

Zohran Mamdani’s meteoric political rise has created huge interest worldwide. Consideration of his origins might bring to mind the old adage, “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world” — a reminder of the influence that mothers have on a society’s direction. Read More→

Miriam Karpilove (1888 – 1956) was a Belarus-born immigrant writer of fiction in the Yiddish language, best known for Diary of a Lonely Girl (1918).

Photo at right: Miriam Karpilove, from the collection of David Karpilow.
 
Karpilove became well known for her serialized novels in the American Yiddish press, focusing on the lives of young Jewish women and exploring contemporary issues of gender roles, sexual mores, immigration, and cultural dislocation. Read More→

Did you know that Patricia Highsmith, who rose to fame with novels like Strangers on a Train (1950) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), also wrote about writing? Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction is a delightful cross between an instructional guide and a personal diary sharing her own processes, struggles, and triumphs.

Highsmith is considered one of America’s greatest writers of psychological thrillers. Her books are must-reads for anyone aspiring to write crime or suspense fiction. (Incidentally, The Price of Salt (later republished as Carol and adapted into the 2015 film), is a seminal work in LGBTQ+ literature.) Read More→

Founded in 2022, Quite Literally Books is a woman-owned indie publisher with a mission of creating new editions of forgotten or neglected classics by American women authors.

Bremond Berry MacDougall and Lisa Endo Cooper, the two women behind Quite Literally Books, are longtime BFFs who have been bonding over their love of reading since they were twelve.

Learn more about Quite Literally Books on their website and Substack. Read More→

Mary Hays (1759–1843) was an English writer whose main work was the six-volume compendium Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women of All Ages and Countries, featuring the biographies of 300 notable women (in 294 entries) from ancient figures to nearly contemporaries.

Originally published in England in 1803, it was published in the United States four years later. Hays was also a poet and novelist.

Mary Hays was born into a family of Protestant dissidents who rejected the practices of the Church of England, the established church at the time. Read More→

Edna O’Brien (December 15, 1930—July 27, 2024) was an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet, and short-story writer.

 Her work is noted for its lyrical depiction of women, sexuality, loneliness, emotional isolation, desire, survival, and rebellion. O’Brien is best known for her first novel, The Country Girls, which, upon its debut, was both denounced and lauded.

A prolific writer, O’Brien, challenged taboos of religion, sex, gender, patriarchy, and persecution. 

Read More→

Despite having been written more than 200 years ago (published in 1818, to be exact), Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has stood the test of time. There have been around a thousand adaptations of the story to date — with yet another, the 2025 film Frankenstein from Guillermo del Toro the most recent to have joined their ranks.

In her book, with Frankenstein’s creature as her canvas, Mary Shelley (1797 – 1851) formed a distinct picture of society. Our “good” side manifests in the creature’s unexpected intelligence and elegant language, yet the “bad” layers of depression and violence begin to show as the story unfolds. Read More→