Lost Ladies of Lit

Amy Helmes & Kim Askew
  • 5.0 (80)
  • Books
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A book podcast hosted by writing partners Amy Helmes and Kim Askew. Guests include biographers, journalists, authors, and cultural historians discussing lost classics by women writers. You can support Lost Ladies of Lit by visiting https://www.patreon.com/c/LostLadiesofLit339. 

  1. May 26

    Nettie Jones — Fish Tales with Hannah Eko

    Send us Fan Mail First published in 1983 after being championed by Toni Morrison, Nettie Jones’s Fish Tales recounts one woman’s trauma-filled, hedonistic quest for personal freedom amidst a “Disco-Era,” drug-fuelled backdrop — one inspired by Jones’s own lived experiences in 1970s Detroit and New York City. Nigerian-American author and Lit Club founder Hannah Eko joins us to discuss the ways power, pleasure and pain converge in Jones’s transgressive work, which was reissued by Farrar Straus and Giroux in 2025 Mentioned in this episode: Fish Tales by Nettie Jones Honey is the Knife by Hannah Eko The Lit Club’s 2026 event calendar Toni Morrison Village Well bookstore Lucumi Oshun Charles Abramson Jean Toomer Longreads article on Nettie Jones by Michael Gonzalez Numa Perrier Zola film Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerny Hunter S. Thompson Anais Nin Gayl Jones The Hitachi Magic Wand Yoruba Art Lost Ladies of Lit Patreon page Support the show For episodes and show notes, visit:  LostLadiesofLit.com Subscribe to our substack newsletter. Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit.  Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

    46 min

  2. May 12

    Josephine Tey — The Daughter of Time with Jennifer Morag Henderson

    Send us Fan Mail Considered one of the greatest crime novels of all time, Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time flipped 450 years of British history on its head by re-examining Richard III’s purported involvement in the murder of his two young nephews, the Princes in the Tower. How did a shopkeeper’s daughter-turned-high-school gym teacher become one of the 20th century’s greatest writers of mystery, literary fiction and theatrical plays? Tey’s biographer, Jennifer Morag Henderson, joins us to discuss the double life that allowed Tey to rocket to stardom while also flying under the radar in her home town of Inverness, Scotland. Mentioned in this episode: Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey Kif: An Unvarnished History by Josephine Tey The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey Claverhouse by Josephine Tey Richard of Bordeaux by Josephine Tey Josephine Tey: A Life by Jennifer Morag Henderson Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary, Queen of Scots by Jennifer Morag Henderson Jofrid Gunn by Jennifer Morag Henderson Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers The Richard III Society Anstey Physical Training College Richard III: The King in the Car Park documentary Support the show For episodes and show notes, visit:  LostLadiesofLit.com Subscribe to our substack newsletter. Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit.  Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

    44 min

  3. Apr 28

    Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry—The Tale of the Rose with Sara Kippur

    Send us Fan Mail Though her high-flying literary husband took center-stage, Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry was more than just the metaphorical “rose” in his novella The Little Prince. She was a writer and artist in her own right, with a gift for storytelling that’s evidenced in the now out-of-print novel Oppède. Following her death, an undiscovered memoir she wrote about her marriage to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry surfaced among her belongings and was published to great acclaim in 2000 as The Tale of the Rose. Wellesley professor Sara Kippur joins us in conversation to discuss the glittering life and literary merits of this often-overlooked 20th-century figure. Mentioned in this episode The Tale of the Rose: The Love Story Behind The Little Prince by Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry Oppède or Kingdom of the Rocks by Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry New York Nouveau: How Postwar French Literature Became American by Sara Kippur The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry José Vasconcelos Enrique Gomez Carrillo Nelly de Vogüé Alain Vircondelet José Martines Fructuoso Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 117 on Zelda Fitzgerald André Gide André Breton Oppède Website with photos of Consuelo’s art Varian Fry Elsa Triolet Tropisms by Nathalie Sarraute The Sea Wall by Marguerite Duras The Volcano Daughters by Gina Maria Balibrera Support the show For episodes and show notes, visit:  LostLadiesofLit.com Subscribe to our substack newsletter. Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit.  Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

    42 min

  4. Apr 14

    María Amparo Ruiz de Burton — Who Would Have Thought It? with Quite Literally Books

    Send us Fan Mail The first Mexican-American woman novelist to be published in English, María Amparo Ruiz de Burton chose a surprising subject matter—East Coast high society—for her first novel, Who Would Have Thought It? She was uniquely qualified to skewer the hypocrisy of Northern abolitionists, lampoon corrupt politicians and even mock Abraham Lincoln as a figure she deems more “party-boy” than presidential. Bremond Berry MacDougall and Lisa Endo Cooper, founders of Quite Literally Books, join us to discuss their new reissue of this 1872 book and why it still resonates so loudly in the era of Donald Trump. Discussed in this episode: María Amparo Ruiz de Burton Who Would Have Thought It? By María Amparo Ruiz de Burton Quite Literally Books Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 246 on Jessie Redmon Fauset Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 79 on Frances Harper’s Iola LeRoy Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs Henry S. Burton Mary Todd Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Varina Davis James Baldwin Dr. Jessie Alemán 1863 Habeas Corpus Suspension Act The Squatter and the Don by María Amparo Ruiz de Burton on Project Gutenberg Support the show For episodes and show notes, visit:  LostLadiesofLit.com Subscribe to our substack newsletter. Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit.  Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

    42 min

  5. Mar 31

    Juanita Harrison—My Great, Wide, Beautiful World with Cathryn Halverson

    Send us Fan Mail Determined from a young age to escape the Jim-Crow South and see new places, Mississippi native Juanita Harrison managed, as a working-class Black woman, to cultivate her own version of a grand world tour, paying for her globe-trotting by picking up piecemeal work as a maid, nanny or cook in far-flung places. My Great, Wide, Beautiful World, her remarkable written account of this eight-year international adventure became a bestseller in 1936 and was the most commercially successful book by a Black author at that time. Cathryn Halverson, author of a brand-new biography on Harrion, joins us this week to discuss this “born writer,” whose sheer pluck and adventurous spirit helped her take the world by storm.  Mentioned in this episode:  My Great, Wide, Beautiful World by Juanita Harrison (free online version). A Born Writer: Juanita Harrison and Her Beautiful World by Cathryn Harrison Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 210 on Mary Maclane Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 246 on Jessie Redmon Fauset Chimene Jackson Mildred Morris Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers Anthony Bourdain Era Bell Thomson Support the show For episodes and show notes, visit:  LostLadiesofLit.com Subscribe to our substack newsletter. Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit.  Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

    51 min

  6. Mar 17

    Magda Szabó — Abigail with Deborah H. Sussman

    Send us Fan Mail A literary icon in her native Hungary, Magda Szabó was relatively unknown to English-speaking readers until recent translations of her work opened the door to her powerful storytelling. In today’s episode we focus on her 1970 novel Abigail, which follows a headstrong teenager at an all-girls boarding school during WWII. Dangerous secrets, emotional complexity and an unexpected guardian angel add intrigue to this poignant coming-of-age tale. Our guest, Deborah H. Sussman of the ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, brings her perspective as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor to our discussion about preserving innocence in the midst of darkness. Mentioned in this episode: Abigail by Magda Szabó The Door by Magda Szabó Len Rix translations of Magda Szabó Photos of the Dóczy High School of the Debrecen Reformed College which inspired Matula Academy Magda Szabó Memorial House museum “More Than a Survivor” by Deborah H. Sussman Villette by Charlotte Bronte The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark The Holdovers The Sound of Music 2015 Musical production of Abigél from Ady Teátrum Trailer for Abigél 1978 miniseries for Hungarian television 2012 film adaptation of The Door starring Helen Mirren Support the show For episodes and show notes, visit:  LostLadiesofLit.com Subscribe to our substack newsletter. Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit.  Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

    43 min

  7. Mar 3

    Mary Elizabeth Braddon — Lady Audley's Secret with Kristine Huntley

    Send us Fan Mail Pass the smelling salts! Readers of the Victorian Era eagerly (or furtively) set scruples aside to read Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s 1862 sensation novel Lady Audley’s Secret — the title of which was enough to tempt even the most puritanical schoolmarm into sneaking a peak. But it was Braddon’s sumptuous prose, eye for drama and sophisticated understanding of social mores which won her the admiration of contemporaries like William Makepiece Thackery, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Louis Stevenson. Booklist reviewer and television writer Kristine Huntley joins us this week to discuss Braddon’s remarkable prowess in navigating scandalous secrets … including her own! Mentioned in this episode: 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction shortlist and longlist Booklist Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon “Abducted by my Teacher” Lifetime movie “Freakish” on Hulu “Mind Games” on ABC “Two Sentence Horror Stories” on the CW The real case that partially inspired Lady Audley’s Secret John Maxwell Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins The Doctor’s Wife by Mary Elizabeth Braddon The Trail of the Serpent by Mary Elizabeth Braddon Three Times Dead by Mary Elizabeth Braddon Daniel Deronda by George Eliot Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 268 on Rosalind Ashe Support the show For episodes and show notes, visit:  LostLadiesofLit.com Subscribe to our substack newsletter. Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit.  Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

    43 min

  8. Feb 17

    ENCORE and updates! Elizabeth Garver Jordan — The Case of Lizzie Borden and Other Stories with Jane Carr and Lori Harrison-Kahan

    Send us Fan Mail Her Life in Ink, a brand new biography by Sharon Harris about Elizabeth Garver Jordan, provides a good reason to plunder our podcast vault this week to revisit an episode about this star journalist, editor and mystery author. Jordan’s riveting coverage of the Lizzie Borden trial for The New York World captivated true-crime junkies of the late 19th-century, and her lengthy career as a journalist, fiction writer and literary editor still resonates today. Lori Harrison-Kahan and Jane Carr, editors of a brand new collection of Garver Jordan’s work, join us to discuss her courtroom dispatches, her connection to today’s #MeToo movement and how her “invisible labor” shaped the writing of literary giants like Sinclair Lewis and Henry James.  Mentioned in this Episode ASU/FIDM screening of Virginia Faulkner's "Bridal Suite" followed by a Q&A with Brad Bigelow Her Life in Ink: Elizabeth Jordan, Journalist, Editor and Mystery Author by Sharon Harris  The Case of Lizzie Borden & Other Writings by Jane Carr and Lori Harrison-Kahan Elizabeth Garver Jordan’s work: The Sturdy Oak The Whole Family  The Lady of Pentlands Three Rousing Cheers “Ruth Herrick’s Assignment” “The Cry of the Pack” The Superwoman and Other Writings by Miriam Michelson Heirs of Yesterday by Emma Wolf The New York World Nellie Bly The Lizzie Borden case The Lizzie Borden house in Fall River, Mass. Harper’s Bazaar Harper and Brothers The White Negress: Literature, Minstrelsy, and the Black Jewish Imaginary by Lori Harrison Kahan Amish Rumspringa “Baby McKee” The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins CNN article by Lori Harrison Kahan on the seeds of the #MeToo mo Support the show For episodes and show notes, visit:  LostLadiesofLit.com Subscribe to our substack newsletter. Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit.  Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

    45 min
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About

A book podcast hosted by writing partners Amy Helmes and Kim Askew. Guests include biographers, journalists, authors, and cultural historians discussing lost classics by women writers. You can support Lost Ladies of Lit by visiting https://www.patreon.com/c/LostLadiesofLit339. 

Information

  • Creator
    Amy Helmes & Kim Askew
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    242
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Lost Ladies of Lit
  • Show Website
    Lost Ladies of Lit

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