A magical literary tour of seven dramatic monologues by Carolyn Smart.
Seven formidable women from the past unveil their secrets and reveal what's behind their reputation. Their common link is addiction - Myra to murder, Unity to Hitler, many to alcohol and drugs, some to love itself.
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Unity Valkyrie Mitfordborn 1914 – died 1948. One of six daughters of a titled British family. She was besotted with Adolf Hitler and became a member of his entourage. |
My body was electric |
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Elizabeth Smartborn 1913 – died 1986. She was from a prominent Ottawa family. Her novella, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept is considered a classic of poetic prose. |
This is what I want: art, love, and children |
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Zelda Sayre Fitzgeraldborn 1900 – died 1948. Zelda Sayre was a novelist, dancer, and artist, married to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Her husband called her "the first American flapper". |
We were big drinkers, bad spellers, fast spenders |
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Dora Carringtonborn 1893 – died 1932. Carrington was a British painter and decorative artist. She is remembered in part for her association with the Bloomsbury Group. She has been called "the most neglected serious painter of her time." |
I loved Lytton Strachey for all time |
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Carson McCullersborn 1917 – died 1967. McCullers wrote with great empathy for her characters, who were mostly outcasts and misfits in the South. Two of her best known works are The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and The Member of the Wedding. |
My body’s the transgressor
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Myra Hindleyborn 1942 – died 2002. Myra Hindley and her partner, Ian Brady, committed the "Moors Murders" – brutally murdering at least five children in and around Manchester, England in the early 1960’s. Myra was described by the press as "the most evil woman in Britain", and to this day is considered the most despised woman in British history. |
"What’s all the noise about?"
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Jane Bowlesborn 1917 – died 1973. Tennessee Williams called her "the most underrated writer of fiction in American literature". |
"Good writing is like guilt |