Writing Women's Lives: An Anthology of Autobiographical Narratives by Twentieth-Century Women Writers

Cahill, the editor of numerous feminist anthologies, has assembled a distinctive collection of 50 autobiographical narratives that span the 20th century. At the close of her powerful ``Why Southern Women Leave Home,'' Shirley Abbott captures the spirit of this anthology, writing that ``history weighs on us and refuses to be forgotten by us, and that the worst poverty women--or men--can suffer is to be bereft of their past.'' Readers will find an abundance of riches in this volume, including the familiar voices of Edith Wharton, Mary McCarthy, Louise Bogan and Annie Dillard, as well as newer names such as Sandra Cisneros, Dorothy Allison and Lorene Cary. Throughout, these essays span the spectrum of women's experiences and the challenges facing them, from racial and sexual discrimination, teen pregnancy and poverty, to the pleasures of reading, the love of other women and the burdens and blessings of ethnic heritage. Mary Crow Dog writes of her battle against the racism she faces as a Native American; Kate Millett, diagnosed as manic-depressive, fights the mental health establishment for her sanity; and Madeleine L'Engle struggles with her faith as her husband dies of cancer. Guided by William Dean Howell's observation that autobiography is ``the most democratic province in the republic of letters,'' Cahill has gathered a diverse and inspiring chorus of American women's voice. (Apr.)