Best known for her short story The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, an almost exact contemporary of Edith Wharton, is celebrated as one of America’s foremost feminist writers. This collection includes 28 of her short stories. In addition to The Yellow Wallpaper are The Unexpected (her first published work), The Great Wistaria, An Extinct Angel, The Unnatural Mother and Deserted. These stories range from the subversive to the humorous, and are often imbued with satire and social commentary. The Yellow Wallpaper, a description of a woman’s descent into madness, exhibits more than a touch of the gothic, while disparaging the patriarchal society in America of that time. Gender equality is a common theme throughout Gilman’s stories as she points out the double standards that prevailed in turn-of-the-century America. Many of her ideas were both original and prophetic. This anthology is read by the prolific Laurel Lefkow, noted for her readings of many classic works of American literature.
