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The History of Literature

549 Forgotten Women of Literature 7 - Ursula Parrott (with Marsha Gordon)

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.61.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2023

⏱️ 64 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hardly anyone knows Ursula Parrott today, but not long ago she was close to being a household name. As a bestselling novelist of the Roaring Twenties and beyond, Parrott's life was filled with literature, celebrity, and scandal. In this episode, Jacke talks to Parrott's biographer Marsha Gordon (Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life & Forgotten Writings of Ursula Parrott) about this fascinating figure, whose racy novel Ex-Wife reads like a Jazz Age forerunner to Bridget Jones, Sex and the City, and the works of authors like Erica Jong and Nora Ephron. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglomerate Network and LitHub Radio.

0:09.6

Hey folks, it's Jack here to talk about the History of Literature Podcast.

0:14.3

No, not to ask you to listen, but to ask you to consider becoming a patron through our

0:19.3

Patreon account.

0:21.5

Producer Emma and I are extremely grateful to all our patrons, and this month we'd like

0:25.8

to invite you to become a patron too.

0:28.8

The money you share helps us to cover the costs of hosting, editing, and generally

0:33.5

putting out the best version of this humble little podcast that we can.

0:38.1

If you're finding some value in the history of literature and you're willing to send

0:41.2

us a little something each month, we would appreciate it.

0:44.7

Think of it as buying us a coffee each month.

0:47.4

Only if you can afford it, of course, that's patreon.com slash literature.

0:52.1

Or if you'd like to make a one-time donation, a lump sum with no questions asked.

0:57.4

You can do that at historyofliterature.com slash donate.

1:02.2

That's patreon.com slash literature or historyofliterature.com slash donate.

1:09.0

Thank you.

1:10.0

Hello, it's a name that sounds like a pseudonym, but it was real, and a life that sounds like

1:17.2

it was made up by a writer of pulp fiction.

1:20.3

But that was real too.

1:22.4

Ursula Parrott, born in Massachusetts, educated at Redcliffe College, Harvard's sister school

1:28.9

at the time, escaping afterwards to Greenwich Village, married to a New York Times reporter

1:34.6

Pregnant secretly, not even telling her husband, married three more times, arrested on federal

...

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