WOMEN AND THE POPULAR IMAGINATION IN THE TWENTIES

WOMEN AND THE POPULAR IMAGINATION IN THE TWENTIES

Women and the Popular Imagination in the Twenties Flappers and Nymphs Billie Melman Lecturer in Modern History Tel-Aviv University M MACMILLAN PRESS

Billie Melman 1988 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1988 978-0-333-39195-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1988 Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG212XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world Filmsetting by Vantage Photosetting Co. Ltd Eastleigh and Southampton British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Melman, Billie Women and the popular imagination in the twenties: flappers and nymphs. 1. English fiction- 20th century- History and criticism 2. Popular literature- History and criticism 3. Women in literature!.title 823'.912'09352042 PR888.W6 ISBN 978-1-349-19101-7 ISBN 978-1-349-19099-7 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-19099-7

For Yossi and for Yo tam, who was conceived and born with this book

Contents Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations ix X Introduction: I9I8-28, Contexts and Texts I PART ONE THE IDIOM THAT THE GENERAL PUBLIC POSSESSES' I The Superfluous Woman, the Flapper, the Disfranchised Female and the Rothermere Press IS PART TWO 'FURTIVE EXCITEMENT: THE DISCOURSE IN BEST -SELLERS 2 'Sex Novels': A New Kind of Best-seller 4I 3 I92I: If Winter Comes- A 'Masculine' Novel 52 4 I924: The Green Hat 65 5 I924, Annus Mirabilis: The Constant Nymph 76 6 19I 9-28: The Sheik of Araby'- Freedom in Captivity in the Desert Romance 89 PARTTHREE REALISTIC FANTASIES: THE WORLD OF THE STORY PAPERS 7 Class and Gender: The 'Girls' Weeklies' 8 'A Lass of Lancashire': The Mill Girl as Emblem of Working-Class Virtues 9 The Emigrant: Romance and the Empire vii 107 121 134

viii Contents Conclusion 145 Appendixes 152 (A) (B) (C) Best-selling Authors: Biographical Notes Margaret Kennedy on The Constant Nymph Women's Story Papers, 1919-30: A Check List of Fiction Magazines with 'Feminine' Interest 152 153 156 Notes Select Bibliography Index 164 178 188

Acknowledgements I am particularly indebted to Professor John A. Sutherland, of the California Institute of Technology, formerly of University College, London, a rare combination of patient instructor and scrupulous critic, whose advice and guidance have, I hope, benefited my work. Dr David Trotter of University College, most careful of readers, has shown interest in this book from its inception and went over the final draft. There are others, individuals and institutions, to whom I am indebted in many different ways. Professor Walter Laqueur of the Institute of Contemporary History and Georgetown University; Professor Saul Friedlander of the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva and Tel-Aviv University; Professor James Joll and Professor Elie Kedourie of the London School of Economics; Ms Victoria Glendinning; Mr Terence DeVere White; Ms Julia Birley, daughter of the late Margaret Kennedy, who allowed me to look at unpublished material and quote from it; Professor Zvi Yavetz of the Department of History, Tel-Aviv University; the Fred Lessing Foundation; the Aranne School of History, Tel-Aviv University; the Staff of the London Library; Mr David Doughan and Miss Katherine Ireland of the Fawcett Library; Miss Kathleen Hays of the Newspaper Library at Colindale; Miss Mary Hurworth of the Reading Room at the British Library; the staff of the British Library at Woolwich; Ms Christa Wichtmann; Mrs Jacky Carby; Mrs Perlina Varon, for her dedication; and last, but first, my parents, Glila and Samuel Rosencweig. London and Tel-Aviv B.M. ix

List of Abbreviations AP GF GFL HMSO JBA MN NYTBR TLS vs WWL Amalgamated Press Girls' Friend Girls' Friend Library Her Majesty's Stationery Office Julia Birley Archive Mizpah Novels New York Times Book Review The Times Literary Supplement Victorian Studies Woman's World Library Early issues of the GFL, MN and the WWL carry no dates. Only a probable year of publication can therefore be cited, allowing for a lapse between the issue of a number and its stamping in the British Library. X