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Else Jerusalem’s Red House Alley is a riveting exposé of the sex industry in fin-de-siècle Vienna. A bestseller upon its 1909 publication, the novel was banned by the Nazis in 1933 (along with its 1928 film adaptation) and fell into obscurity. Boiler House Press published the first full English translation of this landmark work last year, and translator Stephanie Gorrell Ortega joins us to discuss Jerusalem’s richly-drawn account of brothel workers (based on accounts from real prostitutes). We also draw comparisons with this year’s Academy Award-winning “Best Picture,” Anora.

Mentioned in this episode:

Red House Alley by Else Jerusalem

Life and photos of Else Jerusalem

Anora

The Diary of a Lost Girl by Margarite Böhme

The DIary of a Lost Girl film

Young Vienna movement

Rebellion in the Brothel documentary about the Regina Riehl trial

Celestina Truxa

Felix Salten

Hermann Bahr

Arthur Schnitzler

Karl Wittgenstein

Ludwig Wittgenstein

Pretty Baby

David Copperfield

Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 106 on Dirty Helen Cromwell

Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 197 on Helen Tracy Lowe Porter

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When Edna O’Brien published her debut novel The Country Girls in 1960, she was branded a “Jezebel” in her native Ireland—but that didn’t stop her from completing a poignant trilogy about a pair of friends coming of age in a world for which village life and convent school failed to prepare them. Despite initial backlash to her sexually frank depiction of young women’s lives and desires, O’Brien’s writing brought her acclaim and celebrity status—Vanity Fair dubbed her “the playgirl of the western world.” Novelist Edan Lepucki joins us to discuss the trilogy’s timeless appeal and the complicated-but-endearing friendship of characters Kate Brady and Baba Brennan.

Mentioned in this episode:

The Country Girls trilogy by Edna O’Brien

Edna O’Brien interview on BBC’s “World Book Club”

Time’s Mouth by Edan Lepucki

California by Edan Lepucki

Woman No. 17 by Edan Lepucki

Mother’s Before by Edan Lepucki

Italics Mine Substack by Edan Lepucki

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 35 on Maud Hart Lovelace

Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management

Ernest Gébler

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry

“Laverne & Shirley”

Beaches film

Th

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If Brigid Brophy’s The King of a Rainy Country had a soundtrack, it might include the soft patter of rain on a garret window, jazz drifting from a smoky cafe, the hum of a Vespa on narrow cobblestone streets … and the obnoxious griping of a few dozen uncultured Americans! As the description suggests, Brophy’s 1956 novel has a little bit of everything — atmosphere, nostalgia and poignancy mixed with subversive wit and madcap antics. Kim and Amy play “tour guide” examining Brophy’s life and accomplishments, including this wonderfully quirky book, recently reissued by McNally Editions.

Mentioned in this episode:

McNally Editions The King of a Rainy Country by Brigid Brophy

Marginalia article about Brigid Brophy and Iris Murdoch by Maria Popova

Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 51 on Rosamond Lehmann

Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann

Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 150 on Elizabeth Smart

By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart

Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 184 on Elizabeth Taylor Vs. Elizabeth Taylor

BBC program “Take it Or Leave It”

In Transit by Brigid Brophy

Hackenfeller’s Ape by Brigid Brophy

The Snowball by Brigid Brophy

Fifty Works of English Literature We Could Do Without by Brigid Brophy, Michael Levey and ??

The Crown Princess and Other Stories by Brigid Brophy

“Spleen” by Beaudelaire

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

“As You Like It” by William Shakespeare

Support the show

For episodes and show notes, visit:

LostLadiesofLit.com

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