Miss Lulu Bett/Birth

Lulu Bett, 34, lives with her sister and brother-in-law, and they have both turned her into a drudge and taken away her self-esteem and confidence. She hastily marries the brother of her brother-in-law, only to learn he was married before and his wife might still be alive. She leaves him and comes home. The abuse continues, only worse: they won't let her tell people the truth about what happened, making her take on the blame. She eventually builds up courage and leaves, to marry quickly again. This second marriage is a major fault in the book - it's too tacked on and hasty. Gale's tone and focus, though, are sharp.

This book is a journey for one woman who seems solidly real while surrounded by outlandish characters. There is something to gain in realizing that part of yourself is found in the title character, and something to learn when she takes her own route forward into the world. The book is outdated, but is still modern in its approach to women's place in society. I highly suggest the reading and research of this understated story. The play is also a worthwhile reading, and piques more interest as it adds a revised ending that was more pleasing to the crowd of the 1920's. It is an added interest that Zona Gale (the author of the book as well as the screenplay) is the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for "Miss Lulu Bett." Overall, Zona Gale is an amazing author, as everything she writes, every little word and sentence, was certainly well thought out and was meant to matter. The book is a trip to the past as well as a peek into a woman's part in life.