1455’s Author Series continues virtually with Catherine Prendergast, who will read from The Gilded Edge.
In The Gilded Edge: Two Audacious Women and the Cyanide Love Triangle That Shook America (Dutton, On-sale October 5, 2021), Dr. Catherine Prendergast achieves the near impossible: she resurrects the lives and true stories of two fascinating, all-but-forgotten women—a wife and a poet—who learn the high price of sexual and artistic freedom in a vivid depiction of the debauchery of the late Gilded Age. With sharp insight and stunning prose, Prendergast shows the lengths to which history and the men who write it have gone to erase their stories.
The Gilded Edge depicts America at a turning point, as the Gilded Age groans in its death throes and young people, particularly young women, look toward a bright, progressive, more egalitarian future. Against the backdrop of a rapidly growing San Francisco, devastating earthquakes, unspoiled seacoasts, swaying pines, and rolling fog, the group of unconventional and supposedly progressive writers—that include such literary icons as Jack London, Upton Sinclair, and Mary Austin—tear each other apart with secrets, lies, and betrayal. The women’s hope of a more egalitarian existence proves a mirage as they find themselves thrust back into familiar roles as adjuncts to the men’s lives. The men gain professional accolades while the women lose reputations, careers, and lives
Purchase The Gilded Edge
1455 is thrilled to partner with The Potter’s House bookshop.
Event Details
December 7 | 7:00 PM | FREE EVENT
1455’s Executive Director Sean Murphy will speak with Catherine about this book, including the years of research and writing involved. Attendees are encouraged to submit questions prior to or during the conversation. Submit your questions ahead of time by emailing info @1455litarts.org.
1455’s Author Series events are free, but you can make a donation to support us in offering accessible programing.
Tune into this event on Facebook at the event time to watch the live stream!
About Catherine prendergast
Catherine Prendergast is a Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Fulbright Scholar. Interviewed by NPR and New York Magazine, she has written on battles over school desegregation, anxieties over the global spread of English, and recognition of disability rights. Dr. Prendergast’s previous (scholarly) books include Buying Into English (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2008) and Literary and Racial Justice (Southern Illinois University Press, 2003). The Gilded Edge is her first work of narrative nonfiction. Originally from New Jersey, she now lives in central Illinois with her husband and son.
