The image of the Sylvanian family (or Calico Critters are they’re now called) rose to my mind as I began reading the first few chapters of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. The Calico Critters are a family of bunnies, squirrels, and other tiny animal figurines that are clothed like pioneers and dwell in the daintiest…
This has been my final fall semester at Rhodes College and I can confidently say that it was filled from top to bottom with Edith Wharton. I read House of Mirth in the summer and then dedicated the semester to analyzing it for my senior seminar paper, and I just finished The Age of Innocence…
An advice often given to writers is to not attempt to write about a time period until it’s over, only leaving echoes in its wake. Only when a new era has begun is it safe to write about it—just like you can’t properly describe what it’s like to be fifteen until you’re sixteen. You couldn’t…