Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow wrote nineteen novels, many of which were best-sellers. She was known as one of the first realists in American letters, and as an important ironist. Like Willa Cather, Glasgow was one of the most widely read of America's novelists in this century. Yet her critical acclaim falls somewhat behind her popular reputation. She also wrote short stories and a series of prefaces about the art of fiction, which were collected and published in 1943 as A Certain Measure. Another important book was The Woman Within (1954), Glasgow's autobiography, which recounted with both candor and style the problems of being a woman writer.

Whether consciously or not, much of Glasgow's fiction also dealt truthfully with the theme of women finding achievement, success, in their daily lives. At the turn of the century, women usually married and subordinated their interests and personalities to those of their husbands. By...