I had vaguely heard of Susan Glaspell as a playwright but knew nothing of her life and the extent of her work. This fascinating book is more than a biography of this ground breaking writer, it puts her life and work into the context of the time and shows the reasons why Glaspell was so innovative and different - as a woman out of time and as a political animal.

"Extending the progenitor metaphor often used to refer to (Eugene) O'Neill, the authors of the Longman Anthology of Drama and Theater introduce Glaspell as "the mother of the Modern American Theater" and write: "If Eugene O'Neill is regarded as 'the father of the modern American Theater,' it is no less fitting to remember Susan Glaspell as its 'mother'.

Reading this book, it is easy to understand why she should be so esteemed. Her work tried to place her characters in the real world, but in a real world where there was hope and choice. It is possible because she took breaks from writing to pursue other interests that her less than prolific output compared to O'Neill, means she is overlooked. She deserves to be on the same pedestal at the very least, given her influence on his work.

An excellent gift for someone who is interested in theatre from the first part of the twentieth century or women playwrights.

i was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I love this. I'm planning on buying this to keep on my nightstand. There's lots here I'm going to want to revisit.

I first encountered Trifles in an anthology that didn't offer any context, so I carelessly assumed that it was a feminist, 1970s play (I had a similar false reaction to Shirley Jackson)--it felt so modern and so rebellious that it had to be. When I finally found it again in the context of the Provincetown Players, Eugene O'Neil and the Greenwich Village bohemians, it was startling how ground breaking it was. Jouve examines not just the progressive world that allowed the group to flourish, but Glaspell's own background as a daughter of midwestern farmers, an independent newspaper reporter (including the murder trial that inspired Trifles), and feminist bohemian with her own fiercely kept name.