Kay Boyle was born to a wealthy family in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1903. As a child, she traveled with her parents throughout the United States and Europeand developed an early appreciation for art and literature.

She moved to New York City while she was still a teenager. There she got a job as an assistant to the editor of Broom magazine. Within a short period of time, her work began appearing in that publication as well as in Poetry: A Magazine of Verse.

Also that year, Boyle married a French engineer and traveled to France. Out of money and unable to return to the United States, the couple moved to Paris where her literary contacts led to her acquaintance with many American expatriate writers living in France. Soon her literary associates were asking for her contribution to new publications. She also obtained work editing a journal...