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9781609384616

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When I saw the description for Diane Simmons's new book--that she had relied on over 800 pieces of correspondence and ephemera to write her book about a woman married to a bigamist in the 1950s--I was immediately hooked. . . . But The Courtship of Eva Eldridge goes further. It also delves into our collective history, reveals and educates its reader. . . And Simmons does a masterful job of relating her thorough research without making us feel in the least like we're sitting in a Sociology 101 lecture hall. She makes her case slyly, so that we don't even notice we're nodding along and going, 'Ohhhh, yes, of course!' --Yi Shun Lai Tahoma Literary Review (10/16/2016 12:00:00 AM) In The Courtship of Eva Eldridge, Diane Simmons traces one woman's story through hundreds of wartime letters and papers, ultimately uncovering postwar America's rampant bigamy and the women who overcame it. -- New Yorker (10/16/2016 12:00:00 AM) The Courtship of Eva Eldridge is both a riveting narrative of detection and a moving story about individual lives caught up in the changing gender roles generated by World War II. Diane Simmons employs dogged research, smart analysis, existing scholarship, and lively prose to create a history that is hard to put down. --Susan Hartmann, author, The Home Front and Beyond: American Women in the 1940s Tahoma Literary Review (10/16/2016 12:00:00 AM)

The writing is vivid and tight, with a touch of American noir reminiscent of Raymond Chandler and Joan Didion. Simmons's writing brings to life the dark side of a country trying to move on in the wake of war. She blends history and her won detective work to tell a story of betrayal and shattered dreams. --Peter Chilson, author, Disturbance-Loving Species: A Novella and Stories

Diane Simmons has brilliantly used a collection of never-before-seen World War II letters to tell a story that has all the twists of a true crime novel. At its heart, this is a poignant, extraordinary tale of a woman who married a man with a secret and a troubling past. --Andrew Carroll, editor, War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars, a New York Times bestseller The writing is vivid and tight, with a touch of American noir reminiscent of Raymond Chandler and Joan Didion. Simmons's writing brings to life the dark side of a country trying to move on in the wake of war. She blends history and her won detective work to tell a story of betrayal and shattered dreams. --Peter Chilson, author, Disturbance-Loving Species: A Novella and Stories The Courtship of Eva Eldridgeis both a riveting narrative of detection and a moving story about individual lives caught up in the changing gender roles generated by World War II. Diane Simmons employs dogged research, smart analysis, existing scholarship, and lively prose to create a history that is hard to put down. --Susan Hartmann, author, The Home Front and Beyond: American Women in the 1940s When I saw the description for Diane Simmons s new book that she had relied on over 800 pieces of correspondence and ephemera to write her book about a woman married to a bigamist in the 1950s I was immediately hooked. . . . ButThe Courtship of Eva Eldridgegoes further. It also delves into our collective history, reveals and educates its reader. . . And Simmons does a masterful job of relating her thorough research without making us feel in the least like we re sitting in a Sociology 101 lecture hall. She makes her case slyly, so that we don t even notice we re nodding along and going, 'Ohhhh, yes, of course!' --Yi Shun Lai Tahoma Literary Review

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Diane Simmonshas published two novels, Let the Bastards Freeze in the Dark and Dreams Like Thunder, which won the Oregon Book Award. Her short story collection Little America won the Ohio State University Prize for Short Fiction. She lives in the New York City area and is a professor of English at Borough of Manhattan Community College–City University of New York, USA.

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