Lost Ladies of Lit
Amy Helmes & Kim Askew
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A book podcast hosted by writing partners Amy Helmes and Kim Askew. Guests include biographers, journalists, authors, and cultural historians discussing lost classics by women writers. You can support Lost Ladies of Lit by visiting https://www.patreon.com/c/LostLadiesofLit339.
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Top 10 Lost Ladies of Lit Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Lost Ladies of Lit episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Lost Ladies of Lit for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Lost Ladies of Lit episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Ida Craddock with Amy Sohn
Lost Ladies of Lit
10/19/21 • 42 min
New York Times-bestselling author Amy Sohn joins us to discuss the fascinating life of Ida Craddock, a self-taught Victorian sex expert, occultist, and writer of “marriage guides” who was harassed by vice hunter Anthony Comstock. Craddock is just one of the incredible women featured in Sohn’s new book The Man Who Hated Women: Sex, Censorship, and Civil Liberties in the Gilded Age.
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Rose Macaulay — What Not with Kate Macdonald
Lost Ladies of Lit
06/14/22 • 44 min
What Not, Rose Macaulay’s 1918 wild and witty speculative novel of post-First World War eugenics, influenced Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Our guest is literary historian Kate Macdonald, who wrote the first collection of scholarly essays on Macaulay and spearheads the publishing company Handheld Press.
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🔒 "Constant Reader" Weighs In!
Lost Ladies of Lit
04/22/25 • 15 min
In this week’s bonus episode, Amy draws a throughline between the 1970s-era Esquire magazine writing of Nora Ephron and the sharp-witted book reviews of Dorothy Parker. A recent McNally Editions collection of these reviews called Constant Reader: The New Yorker 1927-28 provides a perfect opportunity to explore Parker’s opinions on some lost ladies of lit, from Zona Gale and Elinor Glyn to Fannie Hurst and Elinor Wylie. Which women earned Parker’s praise and which drew her disdain? Listen to find out — (and be prepared to laugh!)
Mentioned in this episode:
Crazy Salad and Scribble Scribble: Some Things About Women and Notes on Media by Nora Ephron
Constant Reader: The New Yorker from 1927-28 by Dorothy Parker
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 126 on Elinor Glyn with Hilary A. Hallett
It by Elinor Glyn
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 13 on Nathalia Crane
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 69 on Margery Latimer with Joy Castro
Yellow Gentians and Blue by Zona Gale
Mr. Hodge and Mr. Hazard by Elinor Wylie
A President is Born by Fannie Hurst
In the Service of the King by Aimee Semple McPherson
Beauty and the Beast by Kathleen Norris
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Margaret Drabble — The Millstone with Carrie Mullins
Lost Ladies of Lit
11/12/24 • 36 min
Margaret Drabble’s 1965 novel The Millstone offers a nuanced portrayal of single motherhood in 1960s London. Author Carrie Mullins, whose 2024 nonfiction work The Book of Mothers explores literary depictions of motherhood, joins us to discuss Drabble’s fearless protagonist, Rosamund. Together, we explore how The Millstone captures the joys and burdens of motherhood, and how Drabble’s sharp, ahead-of-its-time portrayal speaks to contemporary readers.
Mentioned in this episode:
The Book of Mothers: How Literature Can Help Us Reinvent Modern Motherhood by Carrie Mullins
The Millstone by Margaret Drabble
A Touch of Love starring Sandy Dennis and Ian McKellan
Cambride Ladies Dining Society
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 139 on Heartburn by Nora Ephron
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
“Little Women” and the Marmee Problem
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Pride & Prejudiceby Jane Austen
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
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🔒 Literary Rx — Books to Beat the Doldrums
Lost Ladies of Lit
12/17/24 • 24 min
Books are a time-tested cure-all, so in this week’s bonus episode Amy weighs a few of the titles that have helped her forget life's latest troubles and doubts ... (sort of). She leaves no stone unturned in her quest for distraction, from Proust’s meandering sentences to a behind-the-scenes memoir about a beloved ’80s film and a charming, century-old suffrage novel that captures our current political zeitgeist. Rounding out the episode is a sneak peak at “lost ladies” we’ll be featuring in the coming year and Amy’s recitation of a poem by Adrienne Rich that’s perfectly suited to these strange times.
Mentioned in this episode
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron.
Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust
Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 116 on Dorothy Richardson
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 9 on Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 98 on Heterodoxy
Pilgrimage by Dorothy Richardson
Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride by Cary Elwes
Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks by Marcia Bjornerud
Fannie Hurst
Dorothy Canfield
Kathleen Norris
Anne O’Hagan
Mary Heaton Vorse
Alice Duer Miller
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Zelda Fitzgerald — Save Me the Waltz with Stephanie Peebles Tavera
Lost Ladies of Lit
01/30/24 • 38 min
Zelda Fitzgerald is known as “the first American flapper” and an icon of the Jazz Age, but you may be surprised to learn that beneath the glittering facade, there was substance—and literary talent. Her sole published novel, “Save Me the Waltz,” is a poignant blend of beauty and biography that draws on her complex personal narrative, including her childhood in Alabama, her marriage to F. Scott Fitzgerald, and her attempt to become a professional ballerina in Paris at the age of 25.
Joining us is Stephanie Peebles Tavera, an assistant professor of English at Texas A&M University Kingsville and author of the 2022 work “(P)rescription Narratives: Feminist Medical Fiction and the Failure of American Censorship,” from Edinburgh University Press. An essay Stephanie wrote about Zelda and “Save Me the Waltz” will be included in an upcoming collection called “American Writers in Paris: Then and Now.”
Discussed in this episode:
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 135 on Zelda’s Paper Dolls
“Save Me the Waltz” by Zelda Fitzgerald (Handheld Press)
Helen Brent, M.D. by Annie Nathan Meyer
“This Side of Paradise” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Tender Is the Night” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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01/31/23 • 37 min
New episodes beginning Feb 7. This episode originally aired in June 2021. Like her contemporary Herman Melville, New England writer Elizabeth Stoddard was a critical success—Nathaniel Hawthorne himself was a fan, and she was compared to Tolstoy, George Eliot, Balzac, and the Bronte sisters—but her books failed to find an audience when they were published. Join us as we discuss Stoddard’s brilliant novel The Morgesons and its bold and inimitable heroine with guest Rachel Vorona Cote, author of Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today.
Discussed in this episode:
The Morgesons by Elizabeth Stoddard
Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today by Rachel Vorona Cote
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)
Temple House by Elizabeth Stoddard
Dorothea Brooke in Middlemarch by George Eliot
“The Goblin Market” by Christina Rosetti
Catherine Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Green Parrot by Marthe Bibesco on Lost Ladies of Lit
“Tell It Slant” in VQR by Rachel Vorona Cote
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Rona Jaffe — The Best of Everything with Josh Lambert
Lost Ladies of Lit
11/01/22 • 37 min
Rona Jaffe was only 27 when she rose to stardom with her 1958 novel, The Best of Everything, a roman á clef about the adventures of four young, single women working in New York City’s publishing industry. Our guest is Josh Lambert, an associate professor of English and director of the Jewish Studies Program at Wellesley College. His latest book, The Literary Mafia: Jews, Publishing, and Postwar American Literature, was published in July 2022 by Yale University Press.
Discussed in this episode:
The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe with an Introduction by Rachel Syme (Penguin Random House)
The Literary Mafia: Jews, Publishing, and Postwar American Literature by Josh Lambert
The Best of Everything (1959 film)
Elbowing the Seducer by T. Gertler
Rona Jaffe on Playboys’ Penthouse (YouTube)
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Han Suyin — Winter Love
Lost Ladies of Lit
03/07/23 • 24 min
Born to a Chinese father and a Belgian mother, Han Suyin qualified as a doctor in London before moving to Hong Kong to practice medicine. After her novel A Many-Splendored Thing was adapted into a film in 1955, she became a full-time writer. Join us to learn more about Suyin’s remarkable life and her jewel of a novella, Winter Love, first published in 1962. In it, she tells the story of “Red,” who falls passionately in love with her married classmate, Mara, during the freezing, war-ravaged London winter of 1944.
Discussed in this episode:
Winter Love by Han Suyin (McNally Editions)
A Many-Splendored Thing by Han Suyin
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955 film)
“Dragon Ladies” by Karen Shepard (The Millions)
Lost Ladies of Lit Troy Chimneys
Lost Ladies of Lit Daddy’s Gone a Hunting
Lost Ladies of Lit Sui Sin Far
“Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx
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Enayat al-Zayyat — Love and Silence with Iman Mersal
Lost Ladies of Lit
04/23/24 • 35 min
Dying by suicide shortly after her novel, Love and Silence, was rejected for publication in 1963, Egyptian writer Enayat al-Zayyat gained brief recognition when the book was finally published four years after her death. Discovering the novel in a Cairo market some 30 years later launched acclaimed Egyptian writer Iman Mersal on a decades-long, life-altering quest to solve the many mysteries about al-Zayyat’s life, death and legacy. Mersal joins us in this episode to discuss the recent English translation of her award-winng 2019 book, Traces of Enayat, and the nexus between al-Zayyat’s story and her own.
Mentioned in this episode:
Traces of Enayat by Iman Mersal
How to Mend: Motherhood and Its Ghosts by Iman Mersal
The Threshold by Iman Mersal
Love and Silence by Enayat al-Zayyat
The Open Door by Latifa al-Zayyat
Egyptian Actress Nadia Lutfi
City of the Dead cemetery in Cairo
German Institute of Antiquities
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FAQ
How many episodes does Lost Ladies of Lit have?
Lost Ladies of Lit currently has 246 episodes available.
What topics does Lost Ladies of Lit cover?
The podcast is about Classics, History, Women, Writers, Podcasts, Books and Arts.
What is the most popular episode on Lost Ladies of Lit?
The episode title 'Ida Craddock with Amy Sohn' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Lost Ladies of Lit?
The average episode length on Lost Ladies of Lit is 29 minutes.
How often are episodes of Lost Ladies of Lit released?
Episodes of Lost Ladies of Lit are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Lost Ladies of Lit?
The first episode of Lost Ladies of Lit was released on Sep 1, 2020.
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