Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life and Forgotten Writings of Ursula Parrott

by Marsha Gordon

Book Overview

"Makes an excellent case for Parrott as an unjustly forgotten historical figure."--The New Yorker
"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 divorc es, 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520409639
• ISBN13: 9780520409637
• Release Date: August 2024
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.8"