Charlotte Perkins Gilman's compelling story of a bright girl becoming woman shows the restrictions and the possibilities of American life a hundred years ago. With ingenuity and persistence, Benigna Machiavelli maneuvres hers parents, her teachers, her friends, and herself toward a better life. Charlotte Perkins Gilman herself is one of the forgotten heroes of the women's movement -as a writer, editor, tireless lecturer, she worked in the tumultuous years before American women got the vote. Gilman was a social critic and Utopian visionary, whose work was praised by G.B. Shaw, Theodore Dreiser, William Dean Howells, and H.G. Wells. Her Wowen and Economics went through nine printings.
Author
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, also known as Charlotte Perkins Stetson, was a prominent American sociologist, novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist during a time when her accomplishments were exceptional for women, and she served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper", which she wrote after a severe bout of post-partum depression. She was the daughter of Frederic B. Perkins.
