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Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life and Forgotten Writings of Ursula Parrott
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"Remind[s] us of the brazenly talented women sidelined by convention."--New York Times
The riveting biography of Ursula Parrott--best-selling author, Hollywood screenwriter, and voice for the modern woman. Credited with popularizing the label "ex-wife" in 1929, Ursula Parrott wrote provocatively about divorces, career women, single mothers, work-life balance, and a host of new challenges facing modern women. Her best sellers, Hollywood film deals, marriages and divorces, and run-ins with the law made her a household name. Part biography, part cultural history, Becoming the Ex-Wife establishes Parrott's rightful place in twentieth-century American culture, uncovering her neglected work and keen insights into American women's lives during a period of immense social change. Although she was frequently dismissed as a "woman's writer," reading Parrott's writing today makes it clear that she was a trenchant philosopher of modernity--her work was prescient, anticipating issues not widely raised until decades after her decline into obscurity. With elegant wit and a deft command of the archive, Marsha Gordon tells a timely story about the life of a woman on the front lines of a culture war that is still raging today.
"Remind[s] us of the brazenly talented women sidelined by convention."--New York Times
The riveting biography of Ursula Parrott--best-selling author, Hollywood screenwriter, and voice for the modern woman. Credited with popularizing the label "ex-wife" in 1929, Ursula Parrott wrote provocatively about divorces, career women, single mothers, work-life balance, and a host of new challenges facing modern women. Her best sellers, Hollywood film deals, marriages and divorces, and run-ins with the law made her a household name. Part biography, part cultural history, Becoming the Ex-Wife establishes Parrott's rightful place in twentieth-century American culture, uncovering her neglected work and keen insights into American women's lives during a period of immense social change. Although she was frequently dismissed as a "woman's writer," reading Parrott's writing today makes it clear that she was a trenchant philosopher of modernity--her work was prescient, anticipating issues not widely raised until decades after her decline into obscurity. With elegant wit and a deft command of the archive, Marsha Gordon tells a timely story about the life of a woman on the front lines of a culture war that is still raging today.
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$26.95