Atomic Renaissance: Women Mystery Writers of the 1940s/1950s

by Jeffrey Marks

Overview

America in the 1950s was a place of Eisenhower, the Korean Conflict, McCarthy, and Sputnik. Women found themselves trapped into a mold of Donna Reed and June Cleaver, marginalized by the hyper-masculinity of the age. Mystery fiction had become a male bastion as well, promoting hardboiled private eye novels and spy fiction. It would be another three decades before groups to promote equality between the sexes in mystery fiction appeared.

Yet during that post-World War II era, seven women carved out a place in the genre. These women became the bestsellers of their time by innovation and experimentation. Margaret Millar, Patricia Highsmith, Leslie Ford, Charlotte Armstrong, Dorothy B. Hughes, Mignon Eberhart, and Phoebe Atwood Taylor are in no way similar to each other in style, theme, or subject matter. However, their writings created an Atomic Renaissance that continues to impact the mystery field today.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940011243783
Publisher:	Jeffrey Marks
Publication date:	02/20/2011
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	398 KB

About the Author

Jeffrey Marks is a long-time mystery fan and freelancer. After writing numerous profiles of mystery authors, he chose to chronicle the short but full life of Craig Rice. That biography (Who Was That Lady?) was nominated for every major mystery award. His latest work is a biography of mystery author and critic Anthony Boucher. He is the long-time moderator of MurderMustAdvertise, an on-line discussion group dedicated to book marketing and public relations and the author of Intent to Sell: Marketing the Genre Novel. Today, he writes from his home in Cincinnati, which he shares with his partner.