

In the course of the next ten years, Parrott, as a best-selling novelist and in-demand writer for movies and magazines, became a multimillionaire and attained a Hollywood-adjacent literary fame comparable to that of Nora Ephron in the nineteen-eighties.Īt a time in the U.S. “Ex-Wife” was adapted into the hit movie “The Divorcee,” which won Norma Shearer the lead-actress Oscar.

(“Fiction or confession?” a headline asked.) In October, 1929, amid the stock-market crash that precipitated the Great Depression, Parrott received her first royalty check, for the modern-day equivalent of almost three hundred thousand dollars. No longer tantalizing readers by shrouding Parrott’s identity in mystery, the marketers of “Ex-Wife” now strived to make the attractive young author synonymous with her creation, insinuating that her novel was a barely veiled memoir. The Hearst tabloid the Daily Mirror serialized the novel and teased “the most talked about story of the day” with a full-page ad prominently featuring Parrott’s name and pixie-cut likeness. Walter Winchell, the gossip columnist and radio host, called it a “sensational book about husbands and sex.” It was published anonymously-a not uncommon marketing gimmick of the time-but the author was soon outed in Winchell’s newspaper column as Ursula Parrott, a thirty-year-old first-time novelist, the daughter of a respected Boston physician, a Radcliffe graduate, a single mother of a young son, and a verified ex-wife. 1.In the summer of 1929, a provocative New York novel titled “ Ex-Wife” arrived in bookstores, quickly selling out its first printing. We’ve rounded up some of the books that everyone should read below. All are well worth reading at least once in your life! Your Must-Reads: 30 Best Books to Read Even if you are not the biggest fan of reading, here’re 10 reasons to love reading.Įveryone should read at least once for these 30 books to read before you die - some are well known classics, others are modern giants. If you love reading, here’s a perfect reading list for you that contains books that everyone should read. Some of the ultimate and best interesting books to read have inspired modern fiction in many ways. Written by the best literary minds, these books have a universal theme, interesting characters, experiences, perspective, and emotions that are still relevant until today. The greatest books are not called classics for nothing.


Whether you’ve crossed out some best books to read or you’re just starting out to broaden your literary horizons, you should be familiar with the books to read before you die. The wonders of books are endless – they can eliminate your stress, increase your happiness, and boost your intelligence.
