Lost Ladies of Lit

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First surfacing in 1896 at a marketplace in Cairo, scraps of ancient papyrus left scholars gobsmacked by the discovery: a fragmented account of Mary Magdalene in conversation with Jesus and his disciples. The codex’s circuitous path to publication in the mid-20th century is almost as compelling a tale as the gospel itself, which redefines the role of women in early Christianity and features a salvation that’s rooted in individual agency. Religious historian Sarah Parkhouse joins us from the University of Manchester to discuss the reclamation of Mary’s words and historical reputation, as well as how newly unearthed Greek fragments lend credence to this long-lost gnostic text.
Mentioned in this episode:
The Gospel of Mary
Read The Gospel of Mary
Mary Magdalene
Eschatology and the Savior: The ‘Gospel of Mary’ among Early Christian Dialogue Gospels by Sarah Parkhouse
The Gospel of Mary Magdala by Karen L. King
Carl Reinhardt
Irenaeus
The concept of Entanglement in the Gospel of Mary
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Oxyrhynchus
Pope Gregory I
The Gospel of Philip
Sophia: The Wisdom of God by Sergei Bulgakov
History of The Acts of Paul and Thecla
Read The Acts of Paul and Thecla
The Girl Who Baptized Herself: How a Lost Scripture About a Saint Named Thecla Reveals the Power of Knowing Our Worth by Meggan Watterson
“Has a Missing Fragment of the Gospel of Mary Been Discovered?” from The Bible and Beyond Podcast
Discussion on Mary Magdalene’s influence on the songs of Tori Amos
Video clip from The Gospel of Mary opera by Mark Adamo

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“Things that go bump in the night…?” Try sleep-deprived mothers, for starters. British author Celia Fremlin recognized the terrors of trying to hold it together while caring for young children, earning her an Edgar Award for her 1959 debut novel The Hours Before Dawn. Having recently published her own suspense-filled novel, returning guest Emily Midorikawa joins us to discuss Fremlin’s ability to cast a dark shadow on domesticity. This page-turning tale of a beleaguered mum facing inner doubts and outward threats will also kick off the first “Lost Ladies of Lit” online reading group, generously hosted by The Sitting Room Library.
Mentioned in this episode:
Reading Group for The Hours Before Dawn hosted by The Sitting Room Library.
The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin
A Tiny Speck of Black and Then Nothing by Emily Midorikawa
Out of the Shadows: Six Visionary Victorian Women in Search of a Public Voice by Emily Midorikawa
A Secret Sisterhood: The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot and Virginia Woolf by Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 85 on Mary Taylor
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 286 on Mary Elizabeth Braddon
The Seven Chars of Chelsea by Celia Fremilin
Appointment With Yesterday by Celia Fremlin
Patricia Highsmith
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

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We're concluding our own "Hot Girl Summer" with the writer Mary MacLane, a defiant and wildly egotistical 19-year-old resident of Butte, Montana, whose confessional diary implored the “kind devil” to deliver her from a life of bourgeois boredom. Professor Cathryn Halverson joins us to discuss MacLane’s life, angst and the reading public’s reaction to her adolescent intensity.
Mentioned in this episode:
I Await the Devil’s Coming/The Story of Mary MacLane by Mary MacLane (Project Gutenberg)
MTV’s “My So-Called Life”
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening
Herbert S. Stone & Co.
Marie Bashkirtseff
The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff: I am the Most Interesting Woman of All Volume I and Lust for Glory Volume II
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
“Men Who Have Made Love to Me” 
I, Mary MacLane by Mary MacLane
Faraway Women and the Atlantic Monthly by Cathryn Halverson
Maverick Autobiographies: Women Writers and the American West by Cathryn Halverson
Playing House in the American West: Western Women’s Life Narratives by Cathryn Halverson

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If Brigid Brophy’s The King of a Rainy Country had a soundtrack, it might include the soft patter of rain on a garret window, jazz drifting from a smoky cafe, the hum of a Vespa on narrow cobblestone streets … and the obnoxious griping of a few dozen uncultured Americans! As the description suggests, Brophy’s 1956 novel has a little bit of everything  — atmosphere, nostalgia and poignancy mixed with subversive wit and madcap antics. Kim and Amy play “tour guide” examining Brophy’s life and accomplishments, including this wonderfully quirky book, recently reissued by McNally Editions.
Mentioned in this episode:
Pilgrimage online Reading Group with The Sitting Room library
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 116 on Dorothy Richardson
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 270 on The Sitting Room
Pilgrimage by Dorothy Richardson
McNally Editions The King of a Rainy Country by Brigid Brophy
Marginalia article about Brigid Brophy and Iris Murdoch by Maria Popova
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 51 on Rosamond Lehmann
Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 150 on Elizabeth Smart
By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart
Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 184 on Elizabeth Taylor Vs. Elizabeth Taylor
BBC program “Take it Or Leave It”
In Transit by Brigid Brophy
Hackenfeller’s Ape by Brigid Brophy
The Snowball by Brigid Brophy
Fifty Works of English Literature We Could Do Without by Brigid Brophy, Michael Levey and ??
The Crown Princess and Other Stories by Brigid Brophy
“Spleen” by Beaudelaire
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
“As You Like It” by William Shakespeare

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Our "sweltering summer" series continues this week with a re-play of a truly wild desert-island memoir. When Lucy Irvine answered a classified ad to play Girl Friday to a real-life Robinson Crusoe on a remote tropical island, she embarked on an enthralling—and at times harrowing—year-long adventure. The result was her bestselling 1983 memoir, Castaway, a beautifully-written tale of survival. We’re diving into Irvine’s unforgettable story with special guest Francesca Segal, whose own island-centric novel, Welcome to Glorious Tuga, was recently optioned for TV by See-Saw Films.
Mentioned in this episode:
Castaway by Lucy Irvine
The Lucy Irvine Foundation
Welcome to Glorgious Tuga by Francesca Segal
Runaway and Faraway by Lucy Irvine
The Islander by Gerald Kingsland
The Secret Life of a Schoolgirl by Rosemary Kingsland
Castaway 1986 film trailer starring Amanda Donohoe and Oliver Reed
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
“Alone” on the History Channel
See-Saw Films
One is One by Lucy Irvine
The Innocents by Francesca Segal

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For episodes and show notes, visit: 
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