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Synopsis
In her time Oriana Atkinson (1895-1989) was a successful writer, showcasing a wit and no small amount of feminism that was evident in both her fiction and non-fiction works. The feminism was not in your face but was subtlety inserted in subjects from her time and travels the world over with her husband, Pulitizer Prize winning and New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson. Oriana’s historical romance novel, Big Her Life to Live (1949) , shuttles the reader through the life of orphaned Emma “Eyzie” Miles (Big Eyes), a smart and worldly young woman living in the sleepy Catskills Mountain town of Atta, New York in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Eyzie demonstrates the unapologetic wiles of Becky Sharp (Vanity Fair) and the defiance of Hester Prynne (The Scarlet Letter), and despite her unconventional draw on life, you cannot help but root for her. Oriana’s pulp fiction novel was published in paperback by Popular Library in 1951 after original publication in hardback form in 1949. The paperback featured the artwork of famous pulp fiction illustrator Earle K. Bergey (1901-1952) whose work for Big Eyes again graces the cover of this republished second edition of Oriana’s popular novel. Take a stroll through the Catskills as Eyzie battles men, the gossips of Atta, and prejudice. Discover that Oriana and Eyzie give not only humor, but understanding and knowledge, not a bad thing for a day at home in your favorite chair or waiting on an airline to arrive.