Stella Dallas (Femmes Fatales) - Softcover

Prouty, Olive Higgins

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558618902 ISBN 13: 9781558618909

Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2015

Synopsis

Originally published in 1923, this epic tale of motherhood, money, and sacrifice inspired the first radio soap opera, a play, and three films, including the Oscar-nominated 1937 movie starring Barbara Stanwyck. Stella Dallas brings into sharp focus our societal obsession with the judgment of mothers, offering cultural commentary that is still shockingly relevant nearly one hundred years after its initial publication.

Femmes Fatales restores to print the best of women’s writing in the classic pulp genres of the mid-20th century. From mystery to hard-boiled noir to taboo lesbian romance, these rediscovered queens of pulp offer subversive perspectives on a turbulent era. Enjoy the series: Bedelia; Bunny Lake Is Missing; By Cecile; The G-String Murders; The Girls in 3-B; Laura; The Man Who Loved His Wife; Mother Finds a Body; Now, Voyager; Return to Lesbos; Skyscraper; Stranger on Lesbos; Stella Dallas; Women's Barracks.

About this title

About the Author

Olive Higgins Prouty (1882―1974), like many of her characters a wealthy Bostonian, was the author of ten novels, including Stella Dallas (1923), which became the basis for three films and a long-running radio serial. A graduate of Smith College, Prouty endowed a writer's scholarship at Smith that was received by Sylvia Plath, who later portrayed her patron unflatteringly in The Bell Jar.

Review

"Under Olive Higgins Prouty's genteel prose beats a heart of expertly observed class analysis and steely eyed depictions of women―mothers, daughters, and wives―in American society... Stella Dallas is a feminist gem of tough but compassionate realism."―Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States

"You can't understand the dynamics of mother blaming that seeps through pop culture without this wrenching novel. Read it and weep―literally!"―Jamie Babbit, director of But I'm a Cheerleader

“One of the most entertaining, excellently sustained and consistently developed novels of the season." ―New York Times

"Mrs. Prouty has triumphed with her Stella Dallas. She has revealed a rich and deep understanding of human weaknesses and shortcomings." ―NY World

"One does not have the good fortune to encounter many times in a season so sound a novel as Mrs. Prouty's Stella Dallas... It has a simple but deeply moving narrative. It portrays several characters with an understanding and sympathy that is so human that we seem to have walked their path with them." ―Boston Transcript

"Under Olive Higgins Prouty's genteel prose beats a heart of expertly observed class analysis and steely eyed depictions of women―mothers, daughters, and wives―in American society... Stella Dallas is a feminist gem of tough but compassionate realism." ―Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States

"You can't understand the dynamics of mother blaming that seeps through pop culture without this wrenching novel. Read it and weep―literally!" ―Jamie Babbit, director of But I'm a Cheerleader

“One of the most entertaining, excellently sustained and consistently developed novels of the season.” ―New York Times

"Mrs. Prouty has triumphed with her Stella Dallas. She has revealed a rich and deep understanding of human weaknesses and shortcomings." ―NY World

"One does not have the good fortune to encounter many times in a season so sound a novel as Mrs. Prouty's Stella Dallas... It has a simple but deeply moving narrative. It portrays several characters with an understanding and sympathy that is so human that we seem to have walked their path with them." ―Boston Transcript

About this edition

• Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1558618902
• ISBN 13: 9781558618909
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256