Daughter of Earth (Dover Books on Literature & Drama) - Softcover

Smedley, Agnes

4.09

477 ratings by Goodreads

9780486479538: Daughter of Earth (Dover Books on Literature & Drama)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486479536 ISBN 13: 9780486479538

Publisher: Dover Publications, 2011

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"A tale of American disinheritance told from the inside out," declared the Village Voice of this autobiographical novel. Written in 1929 by a dedicated social activist, it chronicles a woman's escape from grinding rural poverty into a predominantly male world of politics and revolution. "My aim in life was to study, not to follow a man around," asserts Marie Rogers, who struggles to establish her identity as an individual and as "a daughter of the earth," in restless pursuit of equality and justice.
Marie's hardscrabble childhood and her involvement with freedom fighters of India and China reflect the author's own experiences. Agnes Smedley (1892–1950) drew upon her own search for spiritual consciousness in this powerful exploration of race, class, and sex in early twentieth-century America. Smedley's novel fell into obscurity after her death, only to reemerge decades later as a remarkable tale of a working-class woman's heroic transformation into an agent for social change.

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About the Author:

Born into dire poverty, American journalist and author Agnes Smedley (1892–1950) worked tirelessly for the world's oppressed. Her causes included India's independence from Britain, the Chinese Revolution, women's rights, birth control, and children's welfare.

Review:

"Agnes Smedley's memories tasted of hunger."
The New York Times Book Review

"A tale of American disinheritance told from the inside out, [this novel] is essentially about Smedley's struggle to come to spiritual consciousness in a world of unimaginable cruelty and deprivation. . . An entire society is limned in the pages of this book. . . The power of Daughter of Earth lies in the erotic heat which informs every page of the book, erotic in the original Greek sense of life force."
The Village Voice

"Daughter of Earth is a precious, priceless book. In it Agnes Smedley lays bare her soul in an effort to understand and heal her life. In the process, she . . . connects herself, as if there were no other options, to all people of her class and vision, regardless of color or sex. It is a remarkably rare affirmation."
Alice Walker, from the Foreword

"This moving novel is both a catharsis through which Smedley purges the pain in her own experience by shaping it in language, and a political act inspiring others to take up the struggle for change. Anticipating most of the issues of the modern women's liberation movement, Daughter of Earth has emerged as one of the major texts of twentieth-century feminism."
Deborah Rosenfelt, Professor of English and Director of Women's Studies, San Francisco State University

"Agnes Smedley's memories tasted of hunger."
―The New York Times Book Review

"A tale of American disinheritance told from the inside out, [this novel] is essentially about Smedley's struggle to come to spiritual consciousness in a world of unimaginable cruelty and deprivation. . . An entire society is limned in the pages of this book. . . The power of Daughter of Earth lies in the erotic heat which informs every page of the book, erotic in the original Greek sense of life force."
―The Village Voice

"Daughter of Earth is a precious, priceless book. In it Agnes Smedley lays bare her soul in an effort to understand and heal her life. In the process, she . . . connects herself, as if there were no other options, to all people of her class and vision, regardless of color or sex. It is a remarkably rare affirmation."
―Alice Walker, from the Foreword

"This moving novel is both a catharsis through which Smedley purges the pain in her own experience by shaping it in language, and a political act inspiring others to take up the struggle for change. Anticipating most of the issues of the modern women's liberation movement, Daughter of Earth has emerged as one of the major texts of twentieth-century feminism."
―Deborah Rosenfelt, Professor of English and Director of Women's Studies, San Francisco State University

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