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Barbara Comyns was recently called, “the best English novelist you’ve never heard of” and her unsettling gothic novels are equal parts enchanting and horrific. Joining us is Avril Horner, author of "Barbara Comyns: A Savage Innocence," who offers insight into Comyns' unique blend of dark humor and her empathetic portrayals of vulnerable protagonists. Graham Greene was a fan and wrote of her, “The strange offbeat talent of Miss Comyns and that innocent eye which observes with childlike simplicity the most fantastic or the most ominous of occurrences, these have never, I think, before been more impressively exercised than in ‘The Vet’s Daughter.’” We discuss that novel as well as her autobiographical “Our Spoons Came from Woolworths.” 

Discussed in this episode: 

 "Barbara Comyns: A Savage Innocence” by Avril Horner

“The Vet’s Daughter” by Barbara Comyns

“Our Spoons Came from Woolworths” by Barbara Comyns

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Inspired by watching Caitlin Clark play in this year’s NCAA tournament, Amy is feeling uncharacteristically “sporty” in this week’s bonus episode. She’ll dive into the history of Ina Eloise Young, America’s first female sports editor at a daily newspaper whose coverage of the 1908 World Series so impressed other newspapermen covering the games that she was immediately named an honorary member of the newly-formed Baseball Writers Association. Ina’s prowess recording box scores also proves triggering to Amy, who shares her own brief tenure working for the sports section of her hometown newspaper.

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Dying by suicide shortly after her novel, Love and Silence, was rejected for publication in 1963, Egyptian writer Enayat al-Zayyat gained brief recognition when the book was finally published four years after her death. Discovering the novel in a Cairo market some 30 years later launched acclaimed Egyptian writer Iman Mersal on a decades-long, life-altering quest to solve the many mysteries about al-Zayyat’s life, death and legacy. Mersal joins us in this episode to discuss the recent English translation of her award-winng 2019 book, Traces of Enayat, and the nexus between al-Zayyat’s story and her own. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Traces of Enayat by Iman Mersal

How to Mend: Motherhood and Its Ghosts by Iman Mersal 

The Threshold by Iman Mersal

Love and Silence by Enayat al-Zayyat

The Open Door by Latifa al-Zayyat

The Open Door film

Egyptian Actress Nadia Lutfi

City of the Dead cemetery in Cairo

Ludwig Keimer

German Institute of Antiquities

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Have you ever wanted to hit the “pause” button on your life and simply start over? In 2022, Anne Boyd Rioux did just that, making the bold and audacious decision to leave her job as a tenured English professor, sell all her earthly possessions and embark on a European adventure. In this episode, Anne talks to Amy about her decision to reset her life and find a new way of being in the world. Find out what Anne has learned about herself in the course of her travels and which inspiring "lost ladies" she's discovered in her recent adventures!

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An eyewitness to monumental moments in the 20th century, author Kay Boyle hung out with Left Bank artists and literary giants, chronicled the ravages of WWII, was blacklisted in the 1950s and was jailed for her Haight-Ashbury activism in the late 1960s. An intrepid modernist committed to a “Revolution of the Word,” this two-time O. Henry award-winner penned 14 novels, eight volumes of poetry and 11 collections of short fiction, yet too few readers today have read her work or even know her name. Returning guest Anne Boyd Rioux joins us this week to discuss Kay Boyle’s audacious life and her lasting impact on literature.

Mentioned in this episode:

Fifty Stories by Kay Boyle

Avalanche by Kay Boyle

Audacious Women, Creative Lives Substack by Anne Boyd Rioux

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein

Broom literary magazine

Being Geniuses Together: 1920-1930 by Robert McAlmon and Kay Boyle

The Armory Show of 1913

Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 11 on Constance Fenimore Woolson

Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 108 on Lola Ridge

Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 98 on Heterodoxy

Ernest Walsh

James Joyce

Lawrence Vail

Robert McAlmon

William Carlos Williams

Marianne Moore

Jean Toomer

The Revolution of the Word

Raymond Duncan

Joseph von Franckenstein

Five Days One Summer film starring Sean Connery

Meg, Joe, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why it Still Matters by Anne Boyd Rioux

The Collected Stories of Constance Fenimore Woolson

“Wedding Day” by Kay Boyle

“The White Horses of Vienna” by Kay Boyle

“Maiden, Maiden” by Kay Boyle

“The Diplomat’s Wife” by Kay Boyle

“Security” by Kay Boyle

“Adam’s Death” by Kay Boyle

“Men” by Kay Boyle

“The Lost” by Kay Boyle

Referenced for this episode:

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In this episode Amy explores the history of the 19th-century dance craze that made political leaders nervous, religious leaders aghast, dance instructors insecure and the masses primed for revolt! From Johann Strauss Jr.'s "pop star" status to popular representations in film, we're covering everything you ever wanted to know about the "Forbidden Dance" — the waltz — and its political and cultural significance!

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In this week’s episode Kim and Amy discuss the life and work of “Speranza,” a.k.a Lady Jane Wilde, a.k.a. Oscar Wilde’s mom! An outspoken, rabble-rousing poet who championed Irish independence, she stirred up members of the Young Ireland movement while writing for Dublin’s radical newspaper “The Nation” in the 1840s. Oscar may have inherited his mother’s wit, intellect and larger-than-life personality, but his later legal troubles were also preceded by her own very public and scandalous libel case.

Mentioned in this episode:

The Rest is History podcast on the trials of Oscar Wilde

The Nation

“Jacta Alea Est” by Speranza

“The Poet’s Destiny” by Speranza

“The Famine Year” by Speranza

Charles Gavan Duffy

Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin

William Wilde (Oscar Wilde’s father)

“The Ballad of Reading Gaol” by Oscar Wilde

“The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Mary Travers libel case

The grave of Lady Jane Wilde

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In our first-ever "Game Show Edition" of the podcast, McNally Editions editor Lucy Scholes joins us for a lightning-round quiz pitting quotations from Elizabeth Taylor the actress vs. Elizabeth Taylor the author! Test your knowledge and join in the fun!

For the full forty-minute episode in which we discuss the author Taylor's writing and also confab on Roger Lewis's Erotic Vagrancy, the dishy 2023 biography of film stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, visit our Patreon: 

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FULL LENGTH EDITION!!! In our first-ever "Game Show Edition" of the podcast, McNally Editions editor Lucy Scholes joins us to talk about the TWO Elizabeth Taylors! Lucy collaborated with Pushkin Press Classics on the short story collection A Different Sound, in which midcentury British novelist and short story writer Elizabeth Taylor features. In addition to discussing Taylor's writing, we'll also confab on Roger Lewis's Erotic Vagrancy, the dishy 2023 biography of film stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Lucy and Kim then square off in a lightning-round quiz pitting quotations from Elizabeth Taylor the actress vs. Elizabeth Taylor the author! Test your knowledge and join in the fun!

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Get ready to fall hopelessly in love with Emilie Loring, a New England native whose prolific output of richly-detailed romance novels feature the sort of charming characters and snappy dialogue reminiscent of films like The Philadelphia Story and It Happened One Night. Loring’s 30 years of commercial success continued long after her death in 1950, prompting publishers to sell ghost-written “Emilie Loring” novels that continued to sell by the tens of millions. Having read each of Loring’s novels at least 50 times each, guest Patti Bender joins us this week to talk about the author’s captivating life and work as told in her 2023 biography Happy Landings: Emilie Loring’s Life, Writing and Wisdom.

00:00 Introduction to Lost Ladies of Lit

02:04 Guest Introduction: Patti Bender, Emilie Loring's Biographer

05:19 Emilie Loring's Family: A Legacy of Creativity

08:15 Emilie Loring's Marriage and Early Life

10:37 Emilie's Writing Journey: Persistence and Passion

12:32 Exploring Emilie Loring's Romantic Novels

14:04 Diving into 'Uncharted Seas': An Emilie Loring Novel

22:26 The Role of Books During Difficult Times

25:35 Emilie's Legacy: Her Continued Popularity

27:28 Must-Read Loring Titles

28:45 The Hollywood Connection: Emilie's Stories and the Silver Screen

29:21 The Pulitzer Nomination

33:48 The Power of Re-reading: Emilie's Books as Comfort Food

35:15 Conclusion: The Lasting Impact of Emilie's Stories

Mentioned in this Episode

Hallmark movie Her Pen Pal

Happy Landings: Emilie Loring’s Life, Writing and Wisdom by Patti Bender

Lee and Shepard Publishing

George Melville Baker’s “Among the Breakers”

Snappy Stories

Uncharted Seas by Emilie Loring

The ghosts of Stone House in Blue Hill, Maine

The Philadelphia Story

It Happened One Night

National Velvet by Enid Bagnold

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