Female Short Story, The - A Chronological History - Volume 3

di , Vera Zhelikhovsky (Autore)

Louisa May Alcott (Autore)

Mary Elizabeth Braddon (Autore)

The Copyright Group, 2021

A wise man once said ‘The safest place for a child is in the arms of his mother’s voice’. This is a perfect place to start our anthology of female short stories. Some of our earliest memories are of our mothers telling us bedtime stories. This is not to demote the value of fathers but more to promote the often-overshadowed talents of the gentler sex. Perhaps ‘gentler’ is a word that we should re-evaluate. In the course of literary history it is men who dominated by opportunity and with their stranglehold on the resources, both financial and technological, who brought their words to a wider audience. Men often placed women on a pedestal from where their talented words would not threaten their own. In these stories we begin with the original disrupter and renegade author Aphra Behn. A peek at her c.v. shows an astounding capacity and leaves us wondering at just how she did all that. In those less modern days to be a woman, even ennobled, was to be seen as second class. You literally were chattel and had almost no rights in marriage. As Charlotte Smith famously said your role as wife was little more than ‘legal prostitute’. From such a despicable place these authors have used their talents and ideas and helped redress that situation. Slowly at first. Privately printed, often anonymously or under the cloak of a male pseudonym their words spread. Their stories admired and, usually, their role still obscured from rightful acknowledgement. Aided by more advanced technology, the 1700’s began to see a steady stream of female writers until by the 1900’s mass market publishing saw short stories by female authors from all the strata of society being avidly read by everyone. Their names are a rollcall of talent and ‘can do’ spirit and society is richer for their works. In literature at least women are now acknowledged as equals, true behind the scenes little has changed but if (and to mis-quote Jane Austen) there is one universal truth, it is that ideas change society. These women’s most certainly did and will continue to do so as they easily write across genres, from horror and ghost stories to tender tales of love and making your way in society’s often grueling rut. They will not be silenced, their ideas and passion move emotions, thoughts and perhaps more importantly our ingrained view of what every individual human being is capable of. It is because of their desire to speak out, their desire to add their talents to the bias around them that we perhaps live in more enlightened, almost equal, times. Within these stories you will also find very occasional examples of historical prejudice. A few words here and there which in today’s world some may find inappropriate or even offensive. It is not our intention to make anyone uncomfortable but to show that the world in order to change must reconcile itself to the actual truth rather than put it out of sight. Context is everything, both to understand and to illuminate the path forward. The author’s words are set, our reaction to them encourages our change. 01 - The Female Short Story. A Chronological History - An Introduction - Volume 3 02 - A Witch's Den by Helena Blavatsky 15 - The Ghost in the Clock Room by Hesba Stretton 04 - The Last of Squire Ennismore by Charlotte Riddell 05 - The Brothers by Louisa May Alcott 06 - Carnivorine by Lucy Hamilton Hooper 04 - The Face in the Glass by Mary Elizabeth Braddon 08 - The Moonstone Mass by Harriet Prescott Spofford 09 - The General's Will by Vera Jelihovsky 10 - The Story of the RipplingTrain by Mary Louisa Molesworth 11 - The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth by Rhoda Broughton 12 - A Twin Identity by Edith Stewart Drewery&

• Autore: , Vera Zhelikhovsky, Louisa May Alcott, Mary Elizabeth Braddon
• Durata in (hh:mm:ss): 07:51:24
• Anno edizione: 2021
• Editore: The Copyright Group
• EAN: 9781803544106

Testo in en