Miss Lulu Bett and Selected Stories
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- 89,00 kr
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- 89,00 kr
Utgivarens beskrivning
Lulu Bett lives in a small town with her sister Ina and Ina’s husband Dwight–a dentist who rules his household with self-righteous smugness. The unmarried Lulu has learned that she cannot question her role as chief cook, housekeeper, and gracious presence. But when Dwight’s sophisticated brother Ninian comes to visit, Lulu finds in herself a surprising wit–and the boldness to accept his playful proposal of marriage.
Through her appealing, determined heroine, Zona Gale satirically dispatches a sheaf of the social assumptions of her day, from male supremacy to the security of marriage. First published in 1920, Miss Lulu Bett was immediately acclaimed, and went on to become one of two bestselling novels of the year. Together with four of Gale’s short stories–including the O. Henry award-winning “Bridal Pond”–Miss Lulu Bett reflects Gale’s broad progressive interests and the fast-paced, affecting prose which made her one of the most popular writers of her time and a classic American storteller.
“A great book . . . the telling is almost incomparable” —Robert Benchley, The World
“Eloquent. . . . Miss Lulu Bett is without flaw” —The Atlantic Monthly
“It has a narrowly limned beauty. . . . The book stands as a signal accomplishment in American letters” —The New Republic
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Progressive activist Gale (1874 1938) first published the title novella in 1920 to critical and popular acclaim, following it with a Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same title. This edition, printed with four of Gale's stories and a new introduction, reintroduces Lulu Bett, an unmarried 34-year-old who lives with her sister and brother-in-law, Ina and Dwight Deacon, as "the family beast of burden." She suffers the indignity of unpaid servitude and Dwight's mean-spirited jokes until his brother, Ninian, arrives after a 20-year absence. The ebullient visitor awakens Lulu's spirit, and a wedding they conduct in jest turns serious. Lulu enjoys a brief honeymoon before disappointment strikes, but she asserts herself again at the end of this story about independence and marriage. The other stories "Dream" (1919), "The Biography of Blade" (1927), "The Need" (1930) and "Bridal Pond" (1930) also address marriage, societal strictures and power imbalances. "Dream," for example, critiques racism with its depiction of a community eagerly anticipating the arrival of affluent new neighbors until it's discovered they're black. Gale's incisive social commentary, economical prose, complicated characterizations and natural dialogue make for lovely rediscovery.
