Looking for Betty MacDonald: The Egg, the Plague, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and I

This is a succinct and lively biography of Betty MacDonald, the bestselling mid-20th-century author of the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books and The Egg and I (genesis of a series of popular movies). Becker's (The Future Remembered) account, created with the cooperation of surviving relatives and access to private letters, outlines what life was like for MacDonald, a precursor to later female humorists such as Erma Bombeck. Her life wasn't easy, given the constricted nature of women's roles, the Great Depression, lawsuits, battles with tuberculosis and cancer, and the rough-and-tumble publishing world. Reading about MacDonald has some of the aspect of trailing a woman astride a bucking bronco, and readers can only admire her for keeping her seat through turbulent times. Becker's book whets the reader's appetite for MacDonald's lesser-known works, such as her memoirs of her stint in a tuberculosis ward (The Plague and I) and of her Depression-era struggles as a single mother with two young daughters (Anybody Can Do Anything.) This accessible and entertaining bio will leave readers wanting more—which might be just the way to inspire them to dip into MacDonald's work. (Sept.)

This review has been corrected: an earlier version stated this was the first biography of Betty MacDonald; another biography, “Betty: The Story of Betty MacDonald, Author of ‘The Egg and I,’” by Anne Wellman, was published earlier this year.