Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life and Forgotten Writings of Ursula Parrott

Marsha Gordon

Univ of California Press, Aug 6, 2024 - Biography & Autobiography - 314 pages

"Makes an excellent case for Parrott as an unjustly forgotten historical figure."—The New Yorker
"Remind[s] us of the brazenly talented women sidelined by convention."—New York Times
The riveting biography of Ursula Parrott—best-selling author, Hollywood screenwriter, and voice for the modern woman.  

Credited with popularizing the label "ex-wife" in 1929, Ursula Parrott wrote provocatively about divorcées, career women, single mothers, work-life balance, and a host of new challenges facing modern women. Her best sellers, Hollywood film deals, marriages and divorces, and run-ins with the law made her a household name. Part biography, part cultural history, Becoming the Ex-Wife establishes Parrott's rightful place in twentieth-century American culture, uncovering her neglected work and keen insights into American women's lives during a period of immense social change.
 
Although she was frequently dismissed as a "woman's writer," reading Parrott's writing today makes it clear that she was a trenchant philosopher of modernity—her work was prescient, anticipating issues not widely raised until decades after her decline into obscurity. With elegant wit and a deft command of the archive, Marsha Gordon tells a timely story about the life of a woman on the front lines of a culture war that is still raging today.

Contents

• Ruth Burns Living Up to the Title of Her Best Seller: 4
• Leftover Ladies: 8
• II: 11
• Margaret Towle a k a Madge Tyrone: 13
• Lucy Inez Towle in the 1911 Simmons College yearbook: 14
• Students at the Boston Girls Latin School 1916: 19
• Katherine Ursula Towle in the 1920 Radcliffe College yearbook: 27
• 3: 30
• Lindesay Parrott in the 1921 Princeton yearbook: 31
• Lindesay Parrott and Katherine Towle Certificate and Record of Marriage: 32
• Katherine Towle Parrott passport application: 35
• IO Courtenay Terry Terrett: 37
• Mary Donahue a k a Dado_47 12 Ursula Parrott and her son Marc: 49
• 6: 63
• Hugh OConnor passport application photo: 64
• 7: 73
• Advertisement for serialization of ExWife: 81
• 8: 86
• IS Gray Strider Sex and the Talkies: 88
• MGM advertisement celebrating Norma Shearers Best Actress Academy Award: 89
• Parrott and other writers in Paramounts 20th Birthday Jubilee campaign: 92
• 22: 93
• 9: 105
• 23: 114
• 26: 143
• 13: 153
• 29: 154
• Connecticut Nutmeg pictorial spread: 172
• 33: 179
• 35: 195
• Her Breaks Went Bad: 202
• 38: 203
• Clipping from Parrotts alumni file Radcliffe: 212
• Black Coffee Scotch and Excitement: 218
• 40: 221
• II: 227
• Chronology: 235
• Filmography: 273

About the author

Marsha Gordon is Professor of Film Studies at North Carolina State University, a former Fellow at the National Humanities Center, and the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar award. She is the author of numerous books and articles and codirector of several short documentaries.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life and Forgotten Writings of Ursula Parrott
• Author: Marsha Gordon
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Univ of California Press, 2024
• ISBN: 0520409639, 9780520409637
• Length: 314 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / General; Biography & Autobiography / Literary Figures; Biography & Autobiography / Women; Performing Arts / Film / History & Criticism; Performing Arts / Film / Screenwriting