The Yellow Wallpaper & Other Classic Feminist Stories: If I Were A Man, The Cottagette, Three Thanksgivings, Turned, The Unnatural Mother, The Giant Wistaria Paperback – May 31, 2025

“I didn’t realize for a long time what the thing was that showed behind—that dim sub-pattern—but now I am quite sure it is a woman.”The Yellow Wallpaper & Other Classic Feminist Stories brings together seven intriguing stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman—a pioneer of feminist fiction—in one unique volume.Featured in this edition from Socotra Books:✅ Page-by-page footnotes to each story explain specialized or less-familiar vocabulary, and cultural references from Perkins Gilman’s time.✅ An illustrated biography exploring Perkins Gilman’s fascinating life.✅ Her honest and direct piece “Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper”.Writing in late 19th century and early 20th century America, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s work blends sharp social commentary on gender and structural inequality with psychological insights into the lives of ordinary women. She explores themes such as motherhood, mental illness, psychological oppression, societal expectations, and female strength and empowerment.The Yellow Wallpaper & Other Classic Feminist Stories is part of Socotra Books’ expanding series of classic short texts that entertain, intrigue and inspire. The seven stories featured are:The Yellow Wallpaper (1892) – Perkins Gilman’s most famous story: a haunting portrait of a woman’s response to confinement when she is prescribed the “rest cure” for postpartum depression.If I Were a Man (1914) – A study of gender inequality and expectations through a simple twist: a woman finds herself occupying her husband’s body for a day.The Cottagette (1910) – A gently subversive tale of romantic ideals, creativity, domestic expectations, and the potential of a truly happy and equal marriage.Three Thanksgivings (1909) – A quietly triumphant story of a widow’s decisive choices, as she seeks financial independence and resists traditional expectations.Turned (1911) – A powerful tale about two women and a man, exploring betrayal and unexpected compassion, breaking with conventional expectations.The Unnatural Mother (1895) – A story of casual condemnation and societal prejudice: a group of women discuss another woman’s contrarian ways and ultimate life choice.The Giant Wistaria (1891) – A gothic horror with a feminist undercurrent. Some two hundred years after a tragedy involving a young English woman, visitors to an old New England mansion are haunted by its past as her fate there is revealed. Read more