A Woman of Genius

A precursor of Sinclair Lewis's 'Main Street' and a counterpoint to Theodore Dreiser's 'Sister Carrie', this 1912 novel deals poignantly and honestly with the costs of a woman's ambitions. Austin (1868-1934) portrays her heroine's decision to leave a dull husband in a Midwestern town to pursue an acting career and her rise to fame, against the background of the cramping social order of the time.