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Ex-Wife
An instant bestseller when it was published anonymously in 1929—the story of a divorce and its aftermath, which scandalized the Jazz Age.
It's 1924, and Peter and Patricia have what looks to be a very modern marriage. Both drink. Both smoke. Both work, Patricia as a head copywriter at a major department store. When it comes to sex with other people, both believe in “the honesty policy.” Until they don‘t. Or, at least, until Peter doesn‘t—and a shell-shocked, lovesick Patricia finds herself starting out all over again, but this time around as a different kind of single the ex-wife.
An instant bestseller when it was published anonymously in 1929, Ex-Wife captures the speakeasies, night clubs, and parties that defined Jazz Age New York—alongside the morning-after aspirin and calisthenics, the lunch-hour visits to the gym, the girl-talk, and the freedoms and anguish of solitude. It also casts a cool eye on the bedrooms and the doctor’s offices where, despite rising hemlines, the men still call the shots. The result is a unique view of what its author Ursula Parrott called “the era of the one-night stand”: an era very much like our own.
It's 1924, and Peter and Patricia have what looks to be a very modern marriage. Both drink. Both smoke. Both work, Patricia as a head copywriter at a major department store. When it comes to sex with other people, both believe in “the honesty policy.” Until they don‘t. Or, at least, until Peter doesn‘t—and a shell-shocked, lovesick Patricia finds herself starting out all over again, but this time around as a different kind of single the ex-wife.
An instant bestseller when it was published anonymously in 1929, Ex-Wife captures the speakeasies, night clubs, and parties that defined Jazz Age New York—alongside the morning-after aspirin and calisthenics, the lunch-hour visits to the gym, the girl-talk, and the freedoms and anguish of solitude. It also casts a cool eye on the bedrooms and the doctor’s offices where, despite rising hemlines, the men still call the shots. The result is a unique view of what its author Ursula Parrott called “the era of the one-night stand”: an era very much like our own.
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1929
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About the author
Ursula Parrott
20 books46 followersUrsula Parrott (March 26, 1899 – September 1957), was an American writer of romantic novels. Her first book, Ex-Wife (1929), was a best seller, and was adapted for film as The Divorcee, starring Norma Shearer. Exploring changing sexual mores and their implications for women, Ex-Wife was considered scandalous in its time. Between 1930 and 1936, Parrott sold the rights to eight more novels and stories that were made into films.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 998 reviews
May 21, 2024
“It is not true that, in time, one ‘gets over’ almost anything. In time, one survives almost anything. There is a distinction.”
I'm so glad I found this book thanks to the new Faber edition. What a vicious, yet entertaining, little slice of 1920s life in NYC. Just as heart-wrenching as Edith Wharton, but more salacious.
It's hard to describe Ex-Wife because, on the one hand, it's a very entertaining soap opera about marriage, divorce, love affairs and scandal... but, on the other hand, it is deeper, more meaningful and more sad than it would first appear. It's a story about women, marriage and relationships; about how women gained some freedoms but lost other things. It contains depictions of domestic abuse, sexual assault, .
Pat has just been left by her husband, Peter, and this loss devastates her. Pat pretty much touches upon every state of grief as she attempts to move on and reevaluate her life's path now her dreams are shattered.
Parts of it are horrible to read. While Pat certainly wasn't blameless in the decline of their relationship, Peter is a piece of shit by my 21st Century standards, and I felt intense horror and secondhand embarrassment for Pat as she attempts to hold onto him long after he has dumped her.
Lucia, another "ex-wife" and a fabulous character, supports Pat through her recovery, offering advice, encouragement and no small amount of humour.
The novel covers only a few short years, yet it feels immense. Pat's journey from distraught dumpee to who she becomes at the novel's close is complex and bittersweet. If Pat wasn't already in her twenties when the story starts, you'd likely call this a bildungsroman because a huge part of this book is her growth from a naive and starry-eyed young woman to someone tougher but more jaded.
There is something very sad about Pat's growth in this book. It feels as if, as she gets clued in about the nature of men, women and relationships, her bubble bursts and part of her gives up on her desire for romance, her belief in the love she once believed in. Maybe that's life. Maybe it's true, and that's why the book hurts so much.
This quote from near the end made me feel devastated:
There were crowds of people hurrying about as if they had somewhere important to go. I wished that I had somewhere important to go.
I saved so many quotes I don't know what to do with them. Here's a few.
On youth: I have never been as sure of myself since, as I was then, when I was twenty-four.
On promiscuous men: “Great Lovers—men who’ve ‘known a hundred women,’ and boast of it—they remind me of the man who wanted to be a musician and so took one lesson on each instrument in the orchestra.”
On love: [..]one did not love a man because he was worth loving, or because one felt worthy of his love in return, or for any reason that one’s acquaintances would think was sound.
On motherhood: I was crazy about him; in intervals between feeling that I had neither energy nor interest for anything, and never would anymore.
On the status of women: The choices for women used to be: marriage, the convent, or the street. They’re just the same now. Marriage has the same name. Or you can have a career, letting it absorb all emotional energy (just like the convent). Or you can have an imitation masculine attitude toward sex, and a succession of meaningless affairs, promiscuity, (the street, that is) taking your pay in orchids and dinner-dates instead of money left on the dresser. (This whole speech by Lucia in chapter 6 is quite something)
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September 6, 2023the original sex and the city for the flapper girls of nyc. delightfully modern in its themes, though still a delicious time capsule of the period - alexander cocktails at the speakeasy, late night cab rides with your lover, alligator pears for lunch, and expensive fur coats to impress your ex-husband. ursula parrot, you lovely woman, you!
“Men told Lucia I was lovely looking, but completely cold. Why cold? I let them kiss me when they must, in cabs, dancing in hot nightclubs, at parties. They were not real. Neither was the office. Clothes were real. I bought many clothes so that, when Peter called up, I could say “come over instantly” and I would be marvellously dressed. I dressed carefully, always, because I might meet some friend of Peter’s, who would go back to him and say, “I saw Patricia; she was looking beautiful.” Then he would call up sooner.”
“Men told Lucia I was lovely looking, but completely cold. Why cold? I let them kiss me when they must, in cabs, dancing in hot nightclubs, at parties. They were not real. Neither was the office. Clothes were real. I bought many clothes so that, when Peter called up, I could say “come over instantly” and I would be marvellously dressed. I dressed carefully, always, because I might meet some friend of Peter’s, who would go back to him and say, “I saw Patricia; she was looking beautiful.” Then he would call up sooner.”
May 6, 2023
Published in America in 1929, Ursula Parrott’s semi-autobiographical novel is very different in flavour from most interwar women’s novels I’ve encountered. Although Parrot’s work and her frank depiction of the experiences of a young wife, later divorced, overlaps with the territory of writers like Jean Rhys and Irmgard Keun, Parrott’s approach is less stylised than Rhys’s and more clinical than Keun’s. A controversial sensation when it first appeared, it was later adapted for Hollywood. It centres on 24-year-old Patricia or Pat who’s part of the “flapper” generation. She’s well-educated, seemingly independent-minded, yet enmeshed in an abusive marriage to Peter, who then leaves her for another woman who is, as he puts it, more “pure.” Parrott’s presentation of their breakup is unsparing, detailing domestic violence, and a perilous backstreet abortion. The end of the marriage is followed by life as one of New York’s growing number of “ex-wives.”
The novel’s narrated by Patricia, who peppers her account with a series of wonderfully wry asides, and I found her self-portrait fascinating. She’s clearly been programmed by her upbringing to keep up appearances so she’s always abreast of fashion and immaculately turned out; she’s studiously polite to men yet painfully aware the circles she inhabits are riddled with hypocrisy and contradictions, and potentially toxic for women adrift. She lunches at the Algonquin and writes advertising copy for a department store by day, frequenting clubs and speakeasies by night, and the men she meets consider her fair game up to and including rape. Parrott’s narrative contains some dry passages and moments that verge on melodrama but there are also a succession of memorable lines and instances of biting social commentary. Invaluable as social history it’s an uncomfortable, but frequently compelling, snapshot of life in a deeply misogynistic, post-war America.
The novel’s narrated by Patricia, who peppers her account with a series of wonderfully wry asides, and I found her self-portrait fascinating. She’s clearly been programmed by her upbringing to keep up appearances so she’s always abreast of fashion and immaculately turned out; she’s studiously polite to men yet painfully aware the circles she inhabits are riddled with hypocrisy and contradictions, and potentially toxic for women adrift. She lunches at the Algonquin and writes advertising copy for a department store by day, frequenting clubs and speakeasies by night, and the men she meets consider her fair game up to and including rape. Parrott’s narrative contains some dry passages and moments that verge on melodrama but there are also a succession of memorable lines and instances of biting social commentary. Invaluable as social history it’s an uncomfortable, but frequently compelling, snapshot of life in a deeply misogynistic, post-war America.
March 22, 2024
For as long as New York has been New York and college has been college, young writers have left one for the other and discovered that loving in cities is heart-shattering. At some point, they began writing novels about the phenomenon—a habit not yet broken. To be 22 in New York! Writing! Earning money by writing—or not. Sleeping with one person in particular or many in a blur. Smashing your heart against the merciless steel and concrete of modernity and watching it ooze down onto the subway tracks.
A novel written on the borders of sexual liberation and feminist awakening, but also on the border of the country of death—the border of a world where to lose a lover to war and a child to illness before you yourself turned 23 was not rare and terrible luck, but the ordinary stuff of human life. We in America have left this humdrum country of death far behind—though we continue to participate in inflicting it, unnecessarily, on distant places.
A novel of grief. Not end-of-a-relationship grief, the real thing. The grief that can only follow the eternal and irrevocable death of a human being you love.
A jazz-age classic, a feminist classic—and you can be sure the only reason it isn’t widely regarded as the former is because, from the day it was published, it’s been the latter. Read it alongside F. Scott, or Ernest, two sides of the same coin: the romance and misogyny of the roaring ‘20s. Like those Important Men, Parrott is enlivened by the influence of commercial writing: ad copy, journalism, men’s magazines, women's magazines, screenplays.
A triumph of voice and style. A crackling heightened reality.
A novel written on the borders of sexual liberation and feminist awakening, but also on the border of the country of death—the border of a world where to lose a lover to war and a child to illness before you yourself turned 23 was not rare and terrible luck, but the ordinary stuff of human life. We in America have left this humdrum country of death far behind—though we continue to participate in inflicting it, unnecessarily, on distant places.
A novel of grief. Not end-of-a-relationship grief, the real thing. The grief that can only follow the eternal and irrevocable death of a human being you love.
A jazz-age classic, a feminist classic—and you can be sure the only reason it isn’t widely regarded as the former is because, from the day it was published, it’s been the latter. Read it alongside F. Scott, or Ernest, two sides of the same coin: the romance and misogyny of the roaring ‘20s. Like those Important Men, Parrott is enlivened by the influence of commercial writing: ad copy, journalism, men’s magazines, women's magazines, screenplays.
A triumph of voice and style. A crackling heightened reality.
November 6, 2025
He understood that one did not love a man because he was worth loving, or because one felt worthy of his love in return, or for any reason that one's acquaintances would think was sound.
Oh, I loved this book! It's very different from what I expected from the blurb which makes it sound smart and a bit fizzy so that I was imagining a Sex and the City but set in 1920s Manhattan. There certainly is sex, cocktails, Chanel frocks and red lipstick but what I didn't expect is that I would fall so in love with the narrator, Pat, the eponymous ex-wife but who is also so much deeper and more than that description.
What Parrott conveys so well is how tragic life can be: firstly, in the sad playing out of Pat's youthful marriage to Pete, one where they both love each other but which doesn't prevent careless infidelities, misunderstandings and some shocking instances of domestic violence. But there is a second story that emerges that is so desperately sad in all kinds of other ways and which left me with that tingly feeling that a book gives me when it's going to become part of my personal baggage.
Amidst all the emotional depths, this is also a vivid portrait of young women making their own ways, despite their problems, through late 1920s New York. Pat is a senior professional copywriter thirty years before Mad Men brought them to our notice. The legacies of WW1 and Prohibition are still playing out and speakeasies and jazz bars in Harlem are a natural part of the social landscape.
All this, though, is backdrop: in the foreground are Lucia and her decision to settle; the young copywriter who faces a familiar conflict between marriage and career; and Pat herself who picks herself up not once but twice... And that open ending will leave me thinking about - wishing for - what happens after the book closes.
March 28, 2023
This book was SOOOOO good. The language was as fresh and modern as if it had been written yesterday. I encourage ALL women in their forties or fifties who have been divorced to read this incredible book. Published in 1929, it was SOOOOO ahead of its time. I'd have loved to have met her. I bet Ursula Parrott was an absolute HOOT. Highly recommended.
July 25, 2024
'This book is not so much a celebration of the unconventional woman as it is a roadmap of the dangers that might befall her' [foreword]
It's mid-1920s, New York, and Patricia has become an Ex-Wife, 'Not every woman who used to be married is one. There are women about whom it is more significant to know...this or that..then to know they were once married to someone else'. The Great War has ended, women have finally got the right to vote and divorce is a straight-forward thing. No longer do men or women need to feel that they are forever lumbered with a mediocre choice or a 'handbrake' to independence. So, although Pat didn't seek a divorce, she gets a great job in advertising, shares an apartment with a fellow divorcee, and hits the town every night. She tries to move on. However, despite being doggedly social and pickling her liver with scotch endlessly, she is not only a tad lonely, she realises that living with all the independence of a man, doesn't garner the same respect as one. The social hypocrisy dawns on her, 'The principal thing that relieving women from the dullness of domesticity did, was to relieve men from any necessity of offering stability in return for love, fidelity and so on. Women used to have status, a relative security. Now they have the status of any prostitute, success while their looks hold out'. Patricia comes to terms with her new label, over time, but sadly at the cost of 'dewy' youth.
Ursuala's son, in the book's afterword, describes his mother's story as confessional. To have lived such a life, as well as to publish such a story, a hundred years ago, gives some perspective on just how outlandish it must've been, and yet how nothing much has changed - underscored by the fact that it is being re-published. I found Ex-Wife such a fascinating insight into the glamourous, yet tumultuous times of that era, as well as the courage to be so forthright in her novel.
It's mid-1920s, New York, and Patricia has become an Ex-Wife, 'Not every woman who used to be married is one. There are women about whom it is more significant to know...this or that..then to know they were once married to someone else'. The Great War has ended, women have finally got the right to vote and divorce is a straight-forward thing. No longer do men or women need to feel that they are forever lumbered with a mediocre choice or a 'handbrake' to independence. So, although Pat didn't seek a divorce, she gets a great job in advertising, shares an apartment with a fellow divorcee, and hits the town every night. She tries to move on. However, despite being doggedly social and pickling her liver with scotch endlessly, she is not only a tad lonely, she realises that living with all the independence of a man, doesn't garner the same respect as one. The social hypocrisy dawns on her, 'The principal thing that relieving women from the dullness of domesticity did, was to relieve men from any necessity of offering stability in return for love, fidelity and so on. Women used to have status, a relative security. Now they have the status of any prostitute, success while their looks hold out'. Patricia comes to terms with her new label, over time, but sadly at the cost of 'dewy' youth.
Ursuala's son, in the book's afterword, describes his mother's story as confessional. To have lived such a life, as well as to publish such a story, a hundred years ago, gives some perspective on just how outlandish it must've been, and yet how nothing much has changed - underscored by the fact that it is being re-published. I found Ex-Wife such a fascinating insight into the glamourous, yet tumultuous times of that era, as well as the courage to be so forthright in her novel.
April 21, 2023
Man, I love everything about this book.
There’s a line in Parrott’s son’s afterword that I misread - well not misread, but mistook what he meant - that people drink in Ex-Wife. He meant literally (there’s so much drinking), but I mean it in that I just drank this in. It reads so easy and is so real. I loved watching Pat grow over the course of the book. Her loves and losses are just so well done.
Pat’s story (and apparently a lot of Ursula’s) reminded me of bits of Our Spoons Came From Woolworths, but then it turns into something else. It’s like The Best of Everything in the nightlife and friendships. Add in some of the feel of Gatsby.
I figured I’d like this since it ticks off so many of my boxes, but man did I love it. And maybe I’m just in an emotional state, but the second to last chapter had me tearing up. It’s all *so* good.
There’s a line in Parrott’s son’s afterword that I misread - well not misread, but mistook what he meant - that people drink in Ex-Wife. He meant literally (there’s so much drinking), but I mean it in that I just drank this in. It reads so easy and is so real. I loved watching Pat grow over the course of the book. Her loves and losses are just so well done.
Pat’s story (and apparently a lot of Ursula’s) reminded me of bits of Our Spoons Came From Woolworths, but then it turns into something else. It’s like The Best of Everything in the nightlife and friendships. Add in some of the feel of Gatsby.
I figured I’d like this since it ticks off so many of my boxes, but man did I love it. And maybe I’m just in an emotional state, but the second to last chapter had me tearing up. It’s all *so* good.
August 26, 2024
4/5
Su O. Wilde man susisiejusiu sąmoju nuostabiai perteikta santuokos (ir toli gražu ne tik tuometinės) dviveidystė, kuomet atvirumas, tikras atvirumas, priimtinas tik kai jį propaguoja vyrai, kai standartai išimtinai tik dvigubi, o laisvės tik laikinos, vedančios prie amžinųjų lūkesčių ir amžinojo circle of life – tu amžiams būsi buvusi žmona, amžiams nešiosi nesėkmės ženklą ir tikėsiesi jį nutrinti būsima santuoka, būsimu sutuoktiniu ir būsima viltimi. Kartu su ironiškais, laiką pralenkusiais pastebėjimais, koja kojon eina ir intrigos, klaidų pasikartojimai, dideli lūkesčiai ir didelis nenoras pripažinti, kad be jokio vyro, gyvenant sau ir savaip, pačiai diktuojant taisykles, sau dirbant ir užsidirbant iš tiesų gyventi yra geriau, nei gyvenant su nemylinčiu. Ir suvokimas, kad net jei pripažintum tai, ką jauti, visuomenė tai vertintų ypač nepalankiai.
Ko pritrūko iki maksimalaus įvertinimo? Tikriausiai, nuoseklumo. Vietomis įsitraukdavau ir puslapiai tarsi patys versdavosi, o vietomis atrodydavo, kad nuo istorijos jau pavargau – ne nuo siužeto, kuris tikrai gana varginantis ir skaudus, o tiesiog nuo paties pasakojimo būdo, gal net nuo pertekliaus? Manau, jei knyga būtų bent 50 puslapių trumpesnė, ji neabejotinai gultų prie metų geriausių. Bet kokiu atveju džiaugiuosi, kad ši klasika buvo prikelta naujam gyvenimui – tikrai viena tų, kurios neturi galiojimo laiko.
Su O. Wilde man susisiejusiu sąmoju nuostabiai perteikta santuokos (ir toli gražu ne tik tuometinės) dviveidystė, kuomet atvirumas, tikras atvirumas, priimtinas tik kai jį propaguoja vyrai, kai standartai išimtinai tik dvigubi, o laisvės tik laikinos, vedančios prie amžinųjų lūkesčių ir amžinojo circle of life – tu amžiams būsi buvusi žmona, amžiams nešiosi nesėkmės ženklą ir tikėsiesi jį nutrinti būsima santuoka, būsimu sutuoktiniu ir būsima viltimi. Kartu su ironiškais, laiką pralenkusiais pastebėjimais, koja kojon eina ir intrigos, klaidų pasikartojimai, dideli lūkesčiai ir didelis nenoras pripažinti, kad be jokio vyro, gyvenant sau ir savaip, pačiai diktuojant taisykles, sau dirbant ir užsidirbant iš tiesų gyventi yra geriau, nei gyvenant su nemylinčiu. Ir suvokimas, kad net jei pripažintum tai, ką jauti, visuomenė tai vertintų ypač nepalankiai.
Ko pritrūko iki maksimalaus įvertinimo? Tikriausiai, nuoseklumo. Vietomis įsitraukdavau ir puslapiai tarsi patys versdavosi, o vietomis atrodydavo, kad nuo istorijos jau pavargau – ne nuo siužeto, kuris tikrai gana varginantis ir skaudus, o tiesiog nuo paties pasakojimo būdo, gal net nuo pertekliaus? Manau, jei knyga būtų bent 50 puslapių trumpesnė, ji neabejotinai gultų prie metų geriausių. Bet kokiu atveju džiaugiuosi, kad ši klasika buvo prikelta naujam gyvenimui – tikrai viena tų, kurios neturi galiojimo laiko.
June 5, 2024
4.1/5 ⭐
"Ex-Wife," a captivating novel set in the 1920s, tells the story of Patricia, a woman thrust into a journey of self-discovery after her husband unexpectedly decides to separate. The novel shines a light on a unique era where divorce was a social scandal, particularly for middle-class white women like Patricia. Despite a certain level of privilege, these women were often trapped by societal expectations and a stifling "parochial mindset."
Patricia's narrative is a strength of the novel. She meticulously recounts the seemingly small moments that ultimately led to the breakdown of her marriage. These details provide a fascinating window into the world women like Patricia inhabited, highlighting the struggles they faced in a society that rigidly defined their roles. We see a woman with a modern spirit yearning for a life that transcended the limitations placed upon her.
Patricia is a refreshingly honest protagonist. She readily admits to her own shortcomings and past dalliances. While she initially longs for the idyllic life she envisioned with Peter, her liberation is not simply a return to a romanticized past. She grapples with her own role in the demise of the marriage and demonstrates a keen self-awareness that makes her a relatable and endearing character.
Despite the mistakes of her past, Patricia embodies remarkable resilience. She refuses to be defined by her heartbreak and actively seeks to build a fulfilling life for herself. Reading her story feels akin to being a close confidante, someone you desperately want to see succeed. I found myself completely engrossed in her journey, turning pages well into the night despite being under the weather.
"Ex-Wife" stands out from other narratives like "The Dry Heart" by Natalia Ginzberg and "Days of Abandonment" by Elena Ferrante by offering a more nuanced and realistic portrayal. While Patricia is undoubtedly emotionally wounded, she doesn't succumb to rage or despair. Instead, she actively seeks growth and self-discovery. She reaches out to another woman who has also experienced divorce, explores new experiences that challenge her old way of life, and ultimately breaks free from the shell society has built around her. The story unfolds at a measured pace, but the emotional impact is profound. The ending feels natural and well-earned, a testament to Patricia's strength and perseverance.
This captivating novel sparked a newfound appreciation for Ursula Parrott, who courageously published the book anonymously. Her work challenged the societal ideal of the subservient wife, making her a true literary pioneer. Learning about the book's anonymous publication only adds to its intrigue. I was also delighted to discover a film adaptation, "The Divorcee," which I'm determined to track down and watch. "Ex-Wife" is a truly unique and thought-provoking novel that lingers long after the last page is turned.
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Post-reading notes:
A marvelous book.
"Ex-Wife," a captivating novel set in the 1920s, tells the story of Patricia, a woman thrust into a journey of self-discovery after her husband unexpectedly decides to separate. The novel shines a light on a unique era where divorce was a social scandal, particularly for middle-class white women like Patricia. Despite a certain level of privilege, these women were often trapped by societal expectations and a stifling "parochial mindset."
Patricia's narrative is a strength of the novel. She meticulously recounts the seemingly small moments that ultimately led to the breakdown of her marriage. These details provide a fascinating window into the world women like Patricia inhabited, highlighting the struggles they faced in a society that rigidly defined their roles. We see a woman with a modern spirit yearning for a life that transcended the limitations placed upon her.
Patricia is a refreshingly honest protagonist. She readily admits to her own shortcomings and past dalliances. While she initially longs for the idyllic life she envisioned with Peter, her liberation is not simply a return to a romanticized past. She grapples with her own role in the demise of the marriage and demonstrates a keen self-awareness that makes her a relatable and endearing character.
Despite the mistakes of her past, Patricia embodies remarkable resilience. She refuses to be defined by her heartbreak and actively seeks to build a fulfilling life for herself. Reading her story feels akin to being a close confidante, someone you desperately want to see succeed. I found myself completely engrossed in her journey, turning pages well into the night despite being under the weather.
"Ex-Wife" stands out from other narratives like "The Dry Heart" by Natalia Ginzberg and "Days of Abandonment" by Elena Ferrante by offering a more nuanced and realistic portrayal. While Patricia is undoubtedly emotionally wounded, she doesn't succumb to rage or despair. Instead, she actively seeks growth and self-discovery. She reaches out to another woman who has also experienced divorce, explores new experiences that challenge her old way of life, and ultimately breaks free from the shell society has built around her. The story unfolds at a measured pace, but the emotional impact is profound. The ending feels natural and well-earned, a testament to Patricia's strength and perseverance.
This captivating novel sparked a newfound appreciation for Ursula Parrott, who courageously published the book anonymously. Her work challenged the societal ideal of the subservient wife, making her a true literary pioneer. Learning about the book's anonymous publication only adds to its intrigue. I was also delighted to discover a film adaptation, "The Divorcee," which I'm determined to track down and watch. "Ex-Wife" is a truly unique and thought-provoking novel that lingers long after the last page is turned.
---------------------------------------------
Post-reading notes:
A marvelous book.
February 4, 2023
The best (or, most realistic?) book on love, heartbreak, and loss that I’ve read in a long time. Glad this one found its way to me
July 13, 2023
Spilling over with personality, almost diaristic in its pacing (definitely w regards to its content), and unbelievably lively, even amid some not-insignificant moments of tragedy. I'm constantly startled to remember this came out nearly a century ago. It's got me feeling existential–what is life but seasons passing, making deep connections, watching them transform, and losing them, then making new ones again, but different; new jobs, apartments, experiences, and still there's only oneself to look at in the mirror throughout: "In the mirror, a small, slim young woman stood. She had black straight shining hair, grey eyes, and a curved red mouth . . . .She did not look happy or unhappy. She looked a little tired and a little amused. I wondered what she was like, underneath her attitudes. But I knew now, that neither I nor anyone else would ever be sure as to that." I mean!!!
September 22, 2024
I had heard a lot about this novel when McNally 're-published it and was keen to read it, but it was difficult to get a copy here, so I was very pleased to hear that Faber were going to be 're-publishing too.
It is the semi autobiographical account of Pat, who starts off separated from her husband, and becomes an ex-wife halfway through. Set in 1920's New York, she hits the town; moving in with another ex-wife they work during the day, and evenings are spent with a series of men in restaurants and speakeasies where a lot of alcohol is consumed. she is desperate to hold on to her husband initially, but as the novel progresses she begins to see that the relationship is doomed.
It felt quite cynical and jaded, but hearing about the authors life, that is unsurprising, and despite this it is witty and largely easy to read, though I did find the middle sagged a bit. The setting was interesting to me, it's not one I read about very often. I'm very glad I finally got to read it, and it's one I'm sure to re-read at some point in the future.
*Many thanks to Netgalley and Faber for a review copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*
It is the semi autobiographical account of Pat, who starts off separated from her husband, and becomes an ex-wife halfway through. Set in 1920's New York, she hits the town; moving in with another ex-wife they work during the day, and evenings are spent with a series of men in restaurants and speakeasies where a lot of alcohol is consumed. she is desperate to hold on to her husband initially, but as the novel progresses she begins to see that the relationship is doomed.
It felt quite cynical and jaded, but hearing about the authors life, that is unsurprising, and despite this it is witty and largely easy to read, though I did find the middle sagged a bit. The setting was interesting to me, it's not one I read about very often. I'm very glad I finally got to read it, and it's one I'm sure to re-read at some point in the future.
*Many thanks to Netgalley and Faber for a review copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*
Want to read
October 24, 2025i'm going to read more classics this year but i want to maintain my hot and mysterious allure so i'm going to read lesser known classics so you guys say "wow... he is a REAL reader" <3
May 5, 2024
It feels unreal that this book was written in the 1920’s when it feels as fresh as a cold martini (or in this case, highballs, of which many are drank throughout the novel). Others have likened it to a bygone era’s Sex and the City, and I think that’s a perfectly apt description. Witty, heartbreaking, and glamorous, encompassing the full range of emotions that a young woman goes through during the trials and tribulations that is love, life, and loss.
I personally like my books to have prose that’s a bit more flowery, but the rich descriptions of hats, dresses, and négligées is nothing short of lovely. I feel like I’m playing dress-up with the “most sensible ladies” of the time. I also loved how fashion was regarded in this book without the baggage and connotations that we place on it today. And, men knew what was en vogue, what suited someone, and had lovely and fitting compliments to go with these appraisals! I also enjoy seeing old compliments in general - “Your shoulders—would make a man forget every disillusionment he’d ever had”. Hilarious, incredible, obsessed.
The gossip and phrases that are thrown between the women of these book are a hoot and will you have feeling like you’re also having a post work scotch with the girls on the banister before dressing to go to a speakeasy. Nothing short of fabulous with a heartbreakingly real ending.
(Also adding that I came upon this book thanks to Alissa Bennett, who wrote the foreword for this McNally edition. I love her work, and I do feel cool that we are insta mutuals. Support your favorite writers!)
I personally like my books to have prose that’s a bit more flowery, but the rich descriptions of hats, dresses, and négligées is nothing short of lovely. I feel like I’m playing dress-up with the “most sensible ladies” of the time. I also loved how fashion was regarded in this book without the baggage and connotations that we place on it today. And, men knew what was en vogue, what suited someone, and had lovely and fitting compliments to go with these appraisals! I also enjoy seeing old compliments in general - “Your shoulders—would make a man forget every disillusionment he’d ever had”. Hilarious, incredible, obsessed.
The gossip and phrases that are thrown between the women of these book are a hoot and will you have feeling like you’re also having a post work scotch with the girls on the banister before dressing to go to a speakeasy. Nothing short of fabulous with a heartbreakingly real ending.
(Also adding that I came upon this book thanks to Alissa Bennett, who wrote the foreword for this McNally edition. I love her work, and I do feel cool that we are insta mutuals. Support your favorite writers!)
November 13, 2024
13 years later reread and it’s just as magnificent
June 16, 2024
I agree with another Matt, he of the West Coast: “Ex-Wife” is vastly superior to “Gatsby.” While Fitzgerald’s novel is celebrated in classrooms for its perspective on the American Dream and held up (falsely) as the definitive portrait of the Twenties, “Ex-Wife” offers a more honest exploration of characters and society. Parrott takes on emotional themes with nuanced prose in a way that feels more raw and introspective for modern readers. “Gatsby” is a book linked to its time; “Ex-Wife” transcends time. 4.5 stars
December 21, 2023
Ex-Wife is a find, a curio, a sort of time capsule of another time, another place. The story of a divorcée in 1929 when that wasn't such a common condition and usually reflected some degree of broken dreams. The reader might expect something like F. Scott Fitzgerald with Dorothy Parker and a hint of Jean Rhys. There's certainly a generous assortment of cynically Parkeresque comments such as:
"Casual lovers, so much more interested in themselves than me, always."
"Days of posing as an efficient young business woman ... nights of posing as a sophisticated young woman about town."
"There's no sense in going other places if you have to take yourself along."
"Men used to bring me violets and now they bring me Scotch. Liquor isn't a gift to a woman, it's just an investment in her."
and more!
Overall Ex-Wife isn't quite serious enough to be philosophical and not quite carefree enough to be facetious, occupying some odd sweet-spot in between. It's all too recognizably human and contemporary, with the same action and reaction and feelings that anyone might have now -- even if going back to America between the wars just prior to the Depression in a kind of Sex and the City way. The reader can't help but wonder what is autobiographical and what's not. Anyone interested in the novel should also look for the lurid "Dell Romance" dime-store cover from 1939. [3½★]
"Casual lovers, so much more interested in themselves than me, always."
"Days of posing as an efficient young business woman ... nights of posing as a sophisticated young woman about town."
"There's no sense in going other places if you have to take yourself along."
"Men used to bring me violets and now they bring me Scotch. Liquor isn't a gift to a woman, it's just an investment in her."
and more!
Overall Ex-Wife isn't quite serious enough to be philosophical and not quite carefree enough to be facetious, occupying some odd sweet-spot in between. It's all too recognizably human and contemporary, with the same action and reaction and feelings that anyone might have now -- even if going back to America between the wars just prior to the Depression in a kind of Sex and the City way. The reader can't help but wonder what is autobiographical and what's not. Anyone interested in the novel should also look for the lurid "Dell Romance" dime-store cover from 1939. [3½★]
February 16, 2025
Celebrating the 100 years anniversary of progressive women portrayed in the novel “Ex-Wife” of Ursula Parrott.
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Whilst this book is a proclamation of divorced women to the lifestyle of shimmering 20’s in New York City, it’s also a testament to the fact that women have and always will be eyed as inferior when divorced.
The protagonist Patricia is a freshly divorced woman who’s financially stable, but still insecure of her social status. The 20’s in New York City is marked by a society that’s on the verge of a transformation prior to the depression. The decadence expressed in alcohol consumption and promiscuity creates a contradiction with the traditional role of men and women.
Ursula Parrott was an author who dared to write about the struggle of divorced, promiscuous and alcoholic women, which was a thorn in society’s eyes. Therefore, and because of her personal lifestyle, Ursula Parrott was a neglected author of her time.
What a shame.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
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Whilst this book is a proclamation of divorced women to the lifestyle of shimmering 20’s in New York City, it’s also a testament to the fact that women have and always will be eyed as inferior when divorced.
The protagonist Patricia is a freshly divorced woman who’s financially stable, but still insecure of her social status. The 20’s in New York City is marked by a society that’s on the verge of a transformation prior to the depression. The decadence expressed in alcohol consumption and promiscuity creates a contradiction with the traditional role of men and women.
Ursula Parrott was an author who dared to write about the struggle of divorced, promiscuous and alcoholic women, which was a thorn in society’s eyes. Therefore, and because of her personal lifestyle, Ursula Parrott was a neglected author of her time.
What a shame.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
December 10, 2025
"An ex-wife's a woman who's always prattling at parties about the joys of being independent, while she's sober... and beginning on either the virtues or the villainies of her departed husband on one drink too many."
Reading this made me realize I, too, have been an ex-wife once or twice, and without ever making it to an altar!
Reading this made me realize I, too, have been an ex-wife once or twice, and without ever making it to an altar!
June 13, 2025
Che cosa è davvero la libertà? Cosa significa essere liberi se sei una donna nella New York del 1929, frenetica e pronta a tutto un bicchiere di whisky di contrabbando?
Patricia è una giovane di ventiquattro anni, bellissima e divertente, dall’aspetto fresco e innocente. Si è sposata con Pete, contro il volere delle loro famiglie, quando avevano diciannove anni ed erano troppo giovani per capire davvero cosa stessero facendo e cosa desiderassero davvero dalla vita.
Ora, nella Grande Mela, sono entrambi alle prese con il mondo della pubblicità e le sue réclame stagionali; anche se i soldi non bastano mai per arrivare a fine mese, la voglia di essere felici, di divertirsi ed essere liberi ha sempre il sopravvento, avvolge le loro vite in un turbine di passione ed euforia, che fa dimenticare i problemi. Ma come si concilia questo desiderio di sperimentare tutto con un matrimonio che li lega indissolubilmente l’uno all’altra?
Ma ora anche i matrimoni non sono più per sempre, ora anche da questi si può fuggire, si possono rinnegare le promesse fatte e andarsene senza troppi sensi di colpa. Tutta quella libertà per la quale Patricia e Pete si battevano, si ritorcerà loro contro, come una lama affilata e terribile che lacererà le le loro anime e le loro vite, gettandole in una sofferenza straziante, che sembra non avere mai fine.
Ben presto la parola divorzio cala sul loro appartamento come una condanna, alla quale Patricia si ribella, forte di quel poco di speranza che le è rimasta nel cuore. Lottare e non arrendersi, non cedere il passo di fronte a quella nuova realtà che sembra volerla uccidere la pare l’unica opzione possibile, l’unica strada da percorrere per sopravvivere.
Continua a leggere qui: https://parlaredilibri.wordpress.com/...
Patricia è una giovane di ventiquattro anni, bellissima e divertente, dall’aspetto fresco e innocente. Si è sposata con Pete, contro il volere delle loro famiglie, quando avevano diciannove anni ed erano troppo giovani per capire davvero cosa stessero facendo e cosa desiderassero davvero dalla vita.
Ora, nella Grande Mela, sono entrambi alle prese con il mondo della pubblicità e le sue réclame stagionali; anche se i soldi non bastano mai per arrivare a fine mese, la voglia di essere felici, di divertirsi ed essere liberi ha sempre il sopravvento, avvolge le loro vite in un turbine di passione ed euforia, che fa dimenticare i problemi. Ma come si concilia questo desiderio di sperimentare tutto con un matrimonio che li lega indissolubilmente l’uno all’altra?
Ma ora anche i matrimoni non sono più per sempre, ora anche da questi si può fuggire, si possono rinnegare le promesse fatte e andarsene senza troppi sensi di colpa. Tutta quella libertà per la quale Patricia e Pete si battevano, si ritorcerà loro contro, come una lama affilata e terribile che lacererà le le loro anime e le loro vite, gettandole in una sofferenza straziante, che sembra non avere mai fine.
Ben presto la parola divorzio cala sul loro appartamento come una condanna, alla quale Patricia si ribella, forte di quel poco di speranza che le è rimasta nel cuore. Lottare e non arrendersi, non cedere il passo di fronte a quella nuova realtà che sembra volerla uccidere la pare l’unica opzione possibile, l’unica strada da percorrere per sopravvivere.
Continua a leggere qui: https://parlaredilibri.wordpress.com/...
March 9, 2025
Kaip nemylėjau didžiojo Getsbio laikotarpio, taip ir nemyliu.
https://knyguziurkes.com/2025/03/09/b...
https://knyguziurkes.com/2025/03/09/b...
June 27, 2025
Romanus apie tarpukario vakarėlius visada noriu skaityti metų pradžioje - gal tas naujametinis spindesys ir šampano purslai iškart piešia Leonardo Di Caprio paveikslą, kai jis, įkūnydamas Getsbį, mums kilstelna taurę. Taigi, berods vasarį- šis noras buvo patenkintas, tik šįkart ne Fitzgerald, o Parrot romanu.
Spėju, autorė - mažai kam žinoma, tačiau savo laiku ji net labai sensacinga novelistė. Kuri ir po 100 metų, skaitant jos romaną, mane maloniai nustebino. Nustebino savo drąsa. Ne kaip mums įprasta - žavėtis moterimis, kurios stoja už savo teises, lygybę, bet mane nustebino jos drąsa būti tiesiog laisva, tiesia, atsipalaidavusia. Romanas, kaip vis dar ne visai būdinga tam laikmečiui - pasaulietiškas. Pagrindinė veikėja atsipalaidavusi, leidžia sau elgtis kaip ir bet kuris vyras: jai nesvetimas vakarėlių gyvenimas su visais atributais - kokteiliai, cigaretės dūmai, naktys pilnos svaigulio; ji perdėtai neapsikrauna rūpesčiais dėl namų židinio kūrimo, ar galvojimo, ką apie ją pagalvos darbdavys. Tiesa, nors tokios istorijos visada mane kažin kodėl žavi, suvokiu, kad į tokį gyvenimą gražu pažiūrėti tik iš šalies, juk jis yra nutolęs šimtmečiu nuo manojo ne tik laiku, bet ir perspektyvomis. Visuomet romanitizuojame tai, ko neturime?
Kas dar gi man pasirodė modernu, apart pagrindinės herojės - tai apskritai rašymo stilius ir romano forma. Tai ne tik epinis pasakojimas, istorija kupina dialogų, veikėjų savirefleksijų, ir net susirašinėjimų. Jokio naftalino kvapo tarp šių eilučių, jokio didaktinio tono jūsų akims ir sielai, tik pašėlęs, bet kartu, kaip taisyklė, ir liūdnas jaunų žmonių gyvenimas. O pamokas - imate, skaitytojai, patys.
Knygos įspūdį sustiprino ir nepriekaištingai suderėjo tuo pačiu metu skaitoma negrožinė knyga - E. M. Remarque biografija. Ten ir vėl gražios moterys, vakarėliai, prabangos spindesys. Maskuojantis, pudruojantis skaudžius žmonių išgyvenimus, nelengvu istorijos laikotarpiu. Kuomet visa kasdienybės gerovė šauna aukštyn kaip tas šampano kamštis, tačiau praėję metai iš atminties jau niekaip nebus ištrinti ir lydės į visus jųjų vakarėlius.
Na ir viršelis! Smulkmena, bet kokia maloni. Viena dailiausių knygų mano bibliotekoje, prisiekiu.
Spėju, autorė - mažai kam žinoma, tačiau savo laiku ji net labai sensacinga novelistė. Kuri ir po 100 metų, skaitant jos romaną, mane maloniai nustebino. Nustebino savo drąsa. Ne kaip mums įprasta - žavėtis moterimis, kurios stoja už savo teises, lygybę, bet mane nustebino jos drąsa būti tiesiog laisva, tiesia, atsipalaidavusia. Romanas, kaip vis dar ne visai būdinga tam laikmečiui - pasaulietiškas. Pagrindinė veikėja atsipalaidavusi, leidžia sau elgtis kaip ir bet kuris vyras: jai nesvetimas vakarėlių gyvenimas su visais atributais - kokteiliai, cigaretės dūmai, naktys pilnos svaigulio; ji perdėtai neapsikrauna rūpesčiais dėl namų židinio kūrimo, ar galvojimo, ką apie ją pagalvos darbdavys. Tiesa, nors tokios istorijos visada mane kažin kodėl žavi, suvokiu, kad į tokį gyvenimą gražu pažiūrėti tik iš šalies, juk jis yra nutolęs šimtmečiu nuo manojo ne tik laiku, bet ir perspektyvomis. Visuomet romanitizuojame tai, ko neturime?
Kas dar gi man pasirodė modernu, apart pagrindinės herojės - tai apskritai rašymo stilius ir romano forma. Tai ne tik epinis pasakojimas, istorija kupina dialogų, veikėjų savirefleksijų, ir net susirašinėjimų. Jokio naftalino kvapo tarp šių eilučių, jokio didaktinio tono jūsų akims ir sielai, tik pašėlęs, bet kartu, kaip taisyklė, ir liūdnas jaunų žmonių gyvenimas. O pamokas - imate, skaitytojai, patys.
Knygos įspūdį sustiprino ir nepriekaištingai suderėjo tuo pačiu metu skaitoma negrožinė knyga - E. M. Remarque biografija. Ten ir vėl gražios moterys, vakarėliai, prabangos spindesys. Maskuojantis, pudruojantis skaudžius žmonių išgyvenimus, nelengvu istorijos laikotarpiu. Kuomet visa kasdienybės gerovė šauna aukštyn kaip tas šampano kamštis, tačiau praėję metai iš atminties jau niekaip nebus ištrinti ir lydės į visus jųjų vakarėlius.
Na ir viršelis! Smulkmena, bet kokia maloni. Viena dailiausių knygų mano bibliotekoje, prisiekiu.
May 28, 2023
Glamorous, and filled with lonely ghosts, Ex-Wife is a glittering and raw remnant of the 1920’s Jazz Age of New York.
Patricia finds herself in the nebulous space between marriage and divorce - as she ruminates on her matrimonial failure, she dips her toes into sexual liberation and alcoholic stupor.
Lovers of Elena Ferrante and Jean Rhys will be caught in this cultural riptide, as it frees itself from the conventional restraints of Victorian frigidity and hurdles towards the interlude; the agape of women who have been briefly relieved of men.
Patricia finds herself in the nebulous space between marriage and divorce - as she ruminates on her matrimonial failure, she dips her toes into sexual liberation and alcoholic stupor.
Lovers of Elena Ferrante and Jean Rhys will be caught in this cultural riptide, as it frees itself from the conventional restraints of Victorian frigidity and hurdles towards the interlude; the agape of women who have been briefly relieved of men.
September 20, 2023
Just a goddamn delight. I will miss the book bitterly, I am so sad to have finished it. It’s perfect- sharply written, observant, succinct, so funny, and heartbreaking. It's one of those books that you feel in your chest. So, so excellent. Easily one of my favorites of the year, and will likely become one of my favorites of all time. Ursula Parrott is brilliant; it’s a shame she didn’t get her flowers when she was here to receive them.
November 8, 2025
Ex-Wife (1929) by Ursula Parrott was a forgotten classic that has seen a resurgence in recent years. It was a sensation in its own time, and its themes are still startlingly contemporary.
Patricia is a young, witty New York working woman in the Jazz Age who suddenly finds herself divorced at the age of 24. The narrative follows the break up of her marriage and her subsequent journey as she navigates life as an "ex-wife" with her new freedoms which rub up against the harsh realities of single life in 1920s Manhattan.
Ex-Wife perfectly captures the milieu of the NYC 1920s Jazz Age: the clubs, cocktails, offices, parties etc during this glittering if often hollow era
Despite being published nearly a hundred years ago the first person narration remains honest and relatable and comes complete with a sharp, sassy wit, and fun one liners. Despite this somewhat flip approach the mood is often tempered by a haunting and heartbreaking melancholy.
The double standards pf the 1920s are central to the novel. Patricia's marriage to Peter crumbles when the modern ideal of an open relationship proves to have one set of rules for the husband and another, harsher set, for the wife. The book powerfully exposes the patriarchal inequalities women faced and despite the era's empty promise of sexual liberation.
Ex-Wife also tackles abortion, sexual assault, domestic abuse, and alcoholism with an unflinching eye. As such it’s a crucial piece of social history and a more timeless story about the complexities of love, work, and independence.
The cynical, downbeat ending puts the tin lid on a fascinating but painful novel.
4/5
An instant bestseller when it was published anonymously in 1929—the story of a divorce and its aftermath, which scandalized the Jazz Age.
It's 1924, and Peter and Patricia have what looks to be a very modern marriage. Both drink. Both smoke. Both work, Patricia as a head copywriter at a major department store. When it comes to sex with other people, both believe in “the honesty policy.” Until they don‘t. Or, at least, until Peter doesn‘t—and a shell-shocked, lovesick Patricia finds herself starting out all over again, but this time around as a different kind of single the ex-wife.
An instant bestseller when it was published anonymously in 1929, Ex-Wife captures the speakeasies, night clubs, and parties that defined Jazz Age New York—alongside the morning-after aspirin and calisthenics, the lunch-hour visits to the gym, the girl-talk, and the freedoms and anguish of solitude. It also casts a cool eye on the bedrooms and the doctor’s offices where, despite rising hemlines, the men still call the shots. The result is a unique view of what its author Ursula Parrott called “the era of the one-night stand”: an era very much like our own.
Patricia is a young, witty New York working woman in the Jazz Age who suddenly finds herself divorced at the age of 24. The narrative follows the break up of her marriage and her subsequent journey as she navigates life as an "ex-wife" with her new freedoms which rub up against the harsh realities of single life in 1920s Manhattan.
Ex-Wife perfectly captures the milieu of the NYC 1920s Jazz Age: the clubs, cocktails, offices, parties etc during this glittering if often hollow era
Despite being published nearly a hundred years ago the first person narration remains honest and relatable and comes complete with a sharp, sassy wit, and fun one liners. Despite this somewhat flip approach the mood is often tempered by a haunting and heartbreaking melancholy.
The double standards pf the 1920s are central to the novel. Patricia's marriage to Peter crumbles when the modern ideal of an open relationship proves to have one set of rules for the husband and another, harsher set, for the wife. The book powerfully exposes the patriarchal inequalities women faced and despite the era's empty promise of sexual liberation.
Ex-Wife also tackles abortion, sexual assault, domestic abuse, and alcoholism with an unflinching eye. As such it’s a crucial piece of social history and a more timeless story about the complexities of love, work, and independence.
The cynical, downbeat ending puts the tin lid on a fascinating but painful novel.
4/5
An instant bestseller when it was published anonymously in 1929—the story of a divorce and its aftermath, which scandalized the Jazz Age.
It's 1924, and Peter and Patricia have what looks to be a very modern marriage. Both drink. Both smoke. Both work, Patricia as a head copywriter at a major department store. When it comes to sex with other people, both believe in “the honesty policy.” Until they don‘t. Or, at least, until Peter doesn‘t—and a shell-shocked, lovesick Patricia finds herself starting out all over again, but this time around as a different kind of single the ex-wife.
An instant bestseller when it was published anonymously in 1929, Ex-Wife captures the speakeasies, night clubs, and parties that defined Jazz Age New York—alongside the morning-after aspirin and calisthenics, the lunch-hour visits to the gym, the girl-talk, and the freedoms and anguish of solitude. It also casts a cool eye on the bedrooms and the doctor’s offices where, despite rising hemlines, the men still call the shots. The result is a unique view of what its author Ursula Parrott called “the era of the one-night stand”: an era very much like our own.
May 28, 2024
The moment I saw this book I was fairly confident that it would immediately become one of my favorites. As it turns out, I was right🫡
Ex-Wife caught my eye because who WOULDN’T love a racy little 1920s NYC novel about a promiscuous divorcee, particularly one that’s semi-autobiographical and anonymous published during a time when it wasn’t acceptable to be that type of woman? That being said, even though I was making a conscious effort throughout this novel to imagine how this would’ve been received in the time it was published, I still don’t think I fully grasped how controversial this might’ve been in the 1930s.
I expected to love this for its unabashed femininity and pushback against societal expectations, and I did. Yet what almost proved more enticing than that was how beautifully and accurately Ursula painted first love, its inevitably messy dissolution, and the way it lingers for way longer than you expect. The way she hopelessly remained a fool for her first husband was both hard to read and relatable. The stages of grief and heartbreak were flawlessly portrayed in the narrator’s thought process. (She also had a lot of internal monologue between snippets of conversation written in parentheses which is a stylistic choice I really appreciate.) Beyond first love, I also (….at my very unseasoned age of 24) felt like this hit the experience of so many different types of romantic love on the nose. Also youth! Some (….many) fave quotes:
“I have never been as sure of myself since, as I was then, when I was twenty-four”
“In five years or ten,shall I walk, still wanting to meet Peter in the middle of the next block?”
“I dressed carefully, always, because I might meet some friend of Peter’s, who would go back to him and say, “I saw Patricia; she was looking beautiful.” Then he would call up sooner.” (On youthful delusion & obsession🫡)
“I did not believe it for a minute; I did not believe that Pete could leave without a word, as if I were some girl he had met in a speakeasy the night before; and had not found very diverting. Pete would not do that to me. He had, though, done just that.”
“One did not love a man because he was worth loving, or because one felt worthy of his love in return, or for any reason that one’s acquaintances would think was sound.”
“He had always planned to write a novel when the profession of medicine left him leisure. Father was past seventy, now.” (On dreams and the passage of time)
“It is unlikely that any other man will desert you... any man you want to hold. Because, when first you suspect he's ready to go, you'll pack his baggage and buy him a one-way ticket anywhere he likes, so fast that he'll leave reluctantly. You'll never hold on again. It's the holding on that hurts.” (On getting over a first love of youth)
“I thought it ought to be fun, but it was always dreary…like prospecting for gold and finding a coal mine.” (On sleeping around in an attempt to get over heartbreak)
“Sometimes, as I walked along the street, remembrance of years when I had been unhappy, came to me; and they seemed an infinite distance away, and altogether unreal, like stories one hears about a friend of a friend of a friend.”
And also, who doesn’t want to read a slice of life novel about a woman in her 20s writing in NYC?
This is a piece of art. I will be rereading it a thousand times over.
Ex-Wife caught my eye because who WOULDN’T love a racy little 1920s NYC novel about a promiscuous divorcee, particularly one that’s semi-autobiographical and anonymous published during a time when it wasn’t acceptable to be that type of woman? That being said, even though I was making a conscious effort throughout this novel to imagine how this would’ve been received in the time it was published, I still don’t think I fully grasped how controversial this might’ve been in the 1930s.
I expected to love this for its unabashed femininity and pushback against societal expectations, and I did. Yet what almost proved more enticing than that was how beautifully and accurately Ursula painted first love, its inevitably messy dissolution, and the way it lingers for way longer than you expect. The way she hopelessly remained a fool for her first husband was both hard to read and relatable. The stages of grief and heartbreak were flawlessly portrayed in the narrator’s thought process. (She also had a lot of internal monologue between snippets of conversation written in parentheses which is a stylistic choice I really appreciate.) Beyond first love, I also (….at my very unseasoned age of 24) felt like this hit the experience of so many different types of romantic love on the nose. Also youth! Some (….many) fave quotes:
“I have never been as sure of myself since, as I was then, when I was twenty-four”
“In five years or ten,shall I walk, still wanting to meet Peter in the middle of the next block?”
“I dressed carefully, always, because I might meet some friend of Peter’s, who would go back to him and say, “I saw Patricia; she was looking beautiful.” Then he would call up sooner.” (On youthful delusion & obsession🫡)
“I did not believe it for a minute; I did not believe that Pete could leave without a word, as if I were some girl he had met in a speakeasy the night before; and had not found very diverting. Pete would not do that to me. He had, though, done just that.”
“One did not love a man because he was worth loving, or because one felt worthy of his love in return, or for any reason that one’s acquaintances would think was sound.”
“He had always planned to write a novel when the profession of medicine left him leisure. Father was past seventy, now.” (On dreams and the passage of time)
“It is unlikely that any other man will desert you... any man you want to hold. Because, when first you suspect he's ready to go, you'll pack his baggage and buy him a one-way ticket anywhere he likes, so fast that he'll leave reluctantly. You'll never hold on again. It's the holding on that hurts.” (On getting over a first love of youth)
“I thought it ought to be fun, but it was always dreary…like prospecting for gold and finding a coal mine.” (On sleeping around in an attempt to get over heartbreak)
“Sometimes, as I walked along the street, remembrance of years when I had been unhappy, came to me; and they seemed an infinite distance away, and altogether unreal, like stories one hears about a friend of a friend of a friend.”
And also, who doesn’t want to read a slice of life novel about a woman in her 20s writing in NYC?
This is a piece of art. I will be rereading it a thousand times over.
July 18, 2024
Loved, loved, LOVED!
July 8, 2025
I cannot verbalize how this is my new favourite book. I am so deeply obsessed. I simultaneously want to gatekeep and recommend it to everyone I know.
December 16, 2024
Ein Skandalbuch! 📚 Damals, als es erschienen ist. Vor knapp 100 Jahren.
Geschrieben wurde „Ex-Wife“ von Ursula Parrott. Nein, eigentlich von Katherine Ursula Towle. Sie lebte von 1899 bis 1957 und war Autorin von über 20 Romanen und fünfzig Kurzgeschichten.
„Ex-Wife“ ist ihr Debüt, welches sie 1929 zunächst anonym veröffentlichte und welches sich in dem Jahr über 100.000 Mal verkaufte.
Sehr schnell wurde sie zu einer der erfolgreichsten Schriftstellerinnen der 30er Jahre, acht ihrer Geschichten wurden für die Leinwand adaptiert und mit damaligen Filmgrößen wie Cary Grant und Humphrey Bogart verfilmt. Sie war ein Star.
Sie, die eigentlich Reporterin werden wollte, doch se*istische Menschen in Redaktionen sie nicht einstellen wollten. Letztendlich schrieben aber genau diese Zeitungen Artikel über sie und ihr Buch. Welch eine Genugtuung. Doch dann ging ihre Popularität zurück, u.a aufgrund diverser Gerichtsverfahren, und Parrott starb schließlich verarmt und alkoholkrank an Krebs.
Dieses damalige Skandalbuch „Ex-Wife“ erschien vor fast 100 Jahren und zeigt uns, was sich seither für Frauen verändert hat.
Obwohl: ein Skandal ist es immer noch. Denn es zeigt uns auch, was sich in den letzten 100 Jahren nicht verändert hat, was gleichgeblieben ist.
Der Inhalt ist ganz kurz erzählt:
Patricia ist 24 Jahre, als ihr Mann Peter sich von ihr trennt. Sie ist schockiert und versucht, ihn zurückzuholen. Doch sehr schnell erkennt sie, dass sie ohne Peter leben will – und kann!
Sie ist jung und möchte ihr Leben genießen. Sie stürzt sich voller Lebensfreude in die schillernden ‘Roaring Twenties‘ und bricht mit den konventionellen Rollenklischees. Sie flirtet, trinkt und kostet ihr Leben voll aus. ✨️
Parrott zeichnet das Bild ihrer Zeit, das Bild einer mutigen Frau – und dies mit verblüffender und beeindruckender Leichtigkeit. Immer noch erschreckend aktuell. Das ist der Skandal von heute.
Übersetzt aus dem Englischen von Tilda Engel.
Mit einem Vorwort von Mareike Fallwickl.
Geschrieben wurde „Ex-Wife“ von Ursula Parrott. Nein, eigentlich von Katherine Ursula Towle. Sie lebte von 1899 bis 1957 und war Autorin von über 20 Romanen und fünfzig Kurzgeschichten.
„Ex-Wife“ ist ihr Debüt, welches sie 1929 zunächst anonym veröffentlichte und welches sich in dem Jahr über 100.000 Mal verkaufte.
Sehr schnell wurde sie zu einer der erfolgreichsten Schriftstellerinnen der 30er Jahre, acht ihrer Geschichten wurden für die Leinwand adaptiert und mit damaligen Filmgrößen wie Cary Grant und Humphrey Bogart verfilmt. Sie war ein Star.
Sie, die eigentlich Reporterin werden wollte, doch se*istische Menschen in Redaktionen sie nicht einstellen wollten. Letztendlich schrieben aber genau diese Zeitungen Artikel über sie und ihr Buch. Welch eine Genugtuung. Doch dann ging ihre Popularität zurück, u.a aufgrund diverser Gerichtsverfahren, und Parrott starb schließlich verarmt und alkoholkrank an Krebs.
Dieses damalige Skandalbuch „Ex-Wife“ erschien vor fast 100 Jahren und zeigt uns, was sich seither für Frauen verändert hat.
Obwohl: ein Skandal ist es immer noch. Denn es zeigt uns auch, was sich in den letzten 100 Jahren nicht verändert hat, was gleichgeblieben ist.
Der Inhalt ist ganz kurz erzählt:
Patricia ist 24 Jahre, als ihr Mann Peter sich von ihr trennt. Sie ist schockiert und versucht, ihn zurückzuholen. Doch sehr schnell erkennt sie, dass sie ohne Peter leben will – und kann!
Sie ist jung und möchte ihr Leben genießen. Sie stürzt sich voller Lebensfreude in die schillernden ‘Roaring Twenties‘ und bricht mit den konventionellen Rollenklischees. Sie flirtet, trinkt und kostet ihr Leben voll aus. ✨️
Parrott zeichnet das Bild ihrer Zeit, das Bild einer mutigen Frau – und dies mit verblüffender und beeindruckender Leichtigkeit. Immer noch erschreckend aktuell. Das ist der Skandal von heute.
Übersetzt aus dem Englischen von Tilda Engel.
Mit einem Vorwort von Mareike Fallwickl.
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