Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Common Reads
0 0
Download high-resolution image Look inside

Invented Lives

Narratives of Black Women 1860-1960

Author Mary Helen Washington
Look inside
Paperback
$25.00 US
Knopf | Anchor
On sale Aug 01, 1988 | 480 Pages | 9780385248426
Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

A companion volume to Black-Eyed Susans/Midnight Birds, this anthology encompasses an exploration of the works and worlds of black women writers between 1860 and 1960. Includes the work of Gwendolyn Brooks, Ann Petry, Zora Neale Hurston, and others plus Washington’s introduction and commentary.

Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION
“The Darkened Eye Restored": Notes Toward a Literary History of Black Women

PART ONE

INTRODUCTION
Meditations on History: The Slave Woman’s Voice

HARRIET JACOBS
“The Perils of a Slave Woman’s Life” from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1860)
Bibliographic Notes

PART TWO

INTRODUCTION
Uplifting the Women and the Race: The Forerunners—Harper and Hopkins

FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER
“Iola” from Iola Leroy (1892)
Bibliographic Notes

PAULINE E. HOPKINS
“Sappho” from Contending Forces (1900)
“Bro’r Abr’m Jimson’s Wedding: A Christmas Story” (1901)
Bibliographic Notes

FANNIE BARRIER WILLIAMS
“The Colored Girl” (1905)

PART THREE

INTRODUCTION
The Mulatta Trap: Nella Larsen’s Women of the 1920s

MARITA O. BONNER
“On Being Young—a Woman—and Colored” (1925)

NELLA LARSEN
“Helga Crane” from Quicksand (1928)

Bibliographic Notes

PART FOUR

INTRODUCTION
“I Love the Way Janie Crawford Left Her Husbands”: Zora Neale Hurston’s Emergent Female Hero

ZORA NEALE HURSTON
“His Over-the-Creek-Girl” from Jonah’s Gourd Vine (1934)
“Janie Crawford” from Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
Bibliographic Notes

PART FIVE

INTRODUCTION
“Infidelity Becomes Her”: The Ambivalent Woman in the Fiction of Ann Petry

ANNE PETRY
“Mamie” from The Narrows (1953)
Bibliographic Notes

INTRODUCTION
I Sign My Mother’s Name: Maternal Power in Dorothy West’s Novel, The Living Is Easy

DOROTHY WEST
“Cleo” from The Living Is Easy (1948)
“My Mother, Rachel West” (1982)
Bibliographic Notes

PART SIX

INTRODUCTION
“Taming All That Anger Down”: Rage and Silence in the Writing of Gwendolyn Brooks

GWENDOLYN BROOKS

“The Courtship and Motherhood of Maud Martha” from Maud Martha (1953)
“The Rise of Maud Martha” (1955)
“Afterword” to Contending Forces (1968)
Bibliographic Notes

Index
Mary Helen Washington is a critic, essayist, anthologist, and English professor at the University of Maryland. Previously she taught at the University of Massachusetts and was a Bunting Fellow at Harvard. She is the editor of numerous anthologies of black writing, including Black-Eyed Susans: Classic Stories by Black Women Writers; Midnight Birds: Stories of Contemporary Black Women Writers; Invented Lives: Narratives of Black Women; and Memory of Kin: Stories of Family by Black Writers. View titles by Mary Helen Washington

About

A companion volume to Black-Eyed Susans/Midnight Birds, this anthology encompasses an exploration of the works and worlds of black women writers between 1860 and 1960. Includes the work of Gwendolyn Brooks, Ann Petry, Zora Neale Hurston, and others plus Washington’s introduction and commentary.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION
“The Darkened Eye Restored": Notes Toward a Literary History of Black Women

PART ONE

INTRODUCTION
Meditations on History: The Slave Woman’s Voice

HARRIET JACOBS
“The Perils of a Slave Woman’s Life” from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1860)
Bibliographic Notes

PART TWO

INTRODUCTION
Uplifting the Women and the Race: The Forerunners—Harper and Hopkins

FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER
“Iola” from Iola Leroy (1892)
Bibliographic Notes

PAULINE E. HOPKINS
“Sappho” from Contending Forces (1900)
“Bro’r Abr’m Jimson’s Wedding: A Christmas Story” (1901)
Bibliographic Notes

FANNIE BARRIER WILLIAMS
“The Colored Girl” (1905)

PART THREE

INTRODUCTION
The Mulatta Trap: Nella Larsen’s Women of the 1920s

MARITA O. BONNER
“On Being Young—a Woman—and Colored” (1925)

NELLA LARSEN
“Helga Crane” from Quicksand (1928)

Bibliographic Notes

PART FOUR

INTRODUCTION
“I Love the Way Janie Crawford Left Her Husbands”: Zora Neale Hurston’s Emergent Female Hero

ZORA NEALE HURSTON
“His Over-the-Creek-Girl” from Jonah’s Gourd Vine (1934)
“Janie Crawford” from Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
Bibliographic Notes

PART FIVE

INTRODUCTION
“Infidelity Becomes Her”: The Ambivalent Woman in the Fiction of Ann Petry

ANNE PETRY
“Mamie” from The Narrows (1953)
Bibliographic Notes

INTRODUCTION
I Sign My Mother’s Name: Maternal Power in Dorothy West’s Novel, The Living Is Easy

DOROTHY WEST
“Cleo” from The Living Is Easy (1948)
“My Mother, Rachel West” (1982)
Bibliographic Notes

PART SIX

INTRODUCTION
“Taming All That Anger Down”: Rage and Silence in the Writing of Gwendolyn Brooks

GWENDOLYN BROOKS

“The Courtship and Motherhood of Maud Martha” from Maud Martha (1953)
“The Rise of Maud Martha” (1955)
“Afterword” to Contending Forces (1968)
Bibliographic Notes

Index

Author

Mary Helen Washington is a critic, essayist, anthologist, and English professor at the University of Maryland. Previously she taught at the University of Massachusetts and was a Bunting Fellow at Harvard. She is the editor of numerous anthologies of black writing, including Black-Eyed Susans: Classic Stories by Black Women Writers; Midnight Birds: Stories of Contemporary Black Women Writers; Invented Lives: Narratives of Black Women; and Memory of Kin: Stories of Family by Black Writers. View titles by Mary Helen Washington

Related Articles

Books for National Depression Education and Awareness Month
Psychology

Books for National Depression Education and Awareness Month

For National Depression Education and Awareness Month in October, we are sharing a collection of titles that educates and informs on depression, including personal stories from those who have experienced depression and topics that range from causes and symptoms of depression to how to develop coping mechanisms to battle depression.

Read more

Books for National Depression Education and Awareness Month

Psychology
Literature

Horror Titles for the Halloween Season

In celebration of the Halloween season, we are sharing horror books that are aligned with the themes of the holiday: the sometimes unknown and scary creatures and witches. From classic ghost stories and popular novels that are celebrated today, in literature courses and beyond, to contemporary stories about the monsters that hide in the dark, our list

Read more

Horror Titles for the Halloween Season

Literature
History Gender and Sexuality Studies

Books for LGBTQIA+ History Month

For LGBTQIA+ History Month in October, we’re celebrating the shared history of individuals within the community and the importance of the activists who have fought for their rights and the rights of others. We acknowledge the varying and diverse experiences within the LGBTQIA+ community that have shaped history and have led the way for those

Read more

Books for LGBTQIA+ History Month

History Gender and Sexuality Studies
General

Books for Black History Month

Join Penguin Random House in celebrating the contributions of Black Authors, Creators and Educators all year long.  In honor of Black History Month, we are highlighting stories about the history of Black America, being Black today, and essential novels by Black writers. Discover more titles African American History African American Studies African American Fiction African American

Read more

Books for Black History Month

General
Subscribe

Penguin Random House Higher Education

© 2025 Penguin Random House

Back to Top
0
    • 0
    Wish List (0)