Pauline Leader
Mara Mills and
Rebecca Sanchez, Editors
October 2016
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View the table of contents. Read an excerpt. Read a review from H-Net. |
$34.95t print edition $34.95 e-book
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Originally published in 1931, this memoir offers an unflinching look at the life of a deaf woman struggling with poverty and isolation in the bohemian enclave of Greenwich Village. In harrowing yet lyrical prose, Pauline Leader recounts her experience growing up as the daughter of Jewish immigrants in a small New England mill town. Born in 1908, Leader was exposed to frequent verbal and physical abuse. She became deaf at the age of 12, following a long illness. As a teenager, she ran away to New York City, where she found work in factories and sweatshops, and spent time in a home for “wayward girls.” As she sought community among the artists and eccentrics of the Village, Leader’s strong will and fierce independence were often thwarted by hardship and self-doubt. But through it all she found solace in her writing.
This edition is accompanied by a new introduction and afterword that provide a scholarly framework for understanding Leader and her times. She persevered and became a published poet and novelist, often drawing on the experiences offered up here. Compelling and evocative, And No Birds Sing deftly reveals a complex, intelligent spirit toiling in a brutal world.
Pauline Leader (1908–2001) was a poet, short story writer, and novelist. Her second book, “A Room for the Night,” was published in 1946.
Print Edition: ISBN 978-1-56368-668-9, 5½ x 8½ paperback, 280 pages, 8 photographs
$34.95t
E-Book: ISBN 978-1-56368-669-6
$34.95
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