Against the backdrop of the ornate East Duke Parlor, feminist author Alix Shulman read from and spoke about her writing before an enthusiastic audience on Friday afternoon.
Best known for her 1972 novel "Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen," Shulman focused her readings on her recently-published memoir "Drinking the Rain." At the age of 50, Shulman began dividing her time between her home in New York City and an isolated cabin on an island off of the coast of Maine. Her book is a reflection on the ensuing 10 years of her life and what they taught her about personal independence as a woman.
"`Drinking the Rain' is about the kinds of new possibilities available to women now that we have had a women's movement," Shulman said.
Reading excerpts from the first section of her book, "The Island," Shulman described her life of solitude in Maine as well as her battle to redefine herself after her children left for college and her marriage ended.
"After half a lifetime of answering to the tides of the family, here at 50, I am beginning to discover who I am when the tide runs out," she read.
Moving to excerpts from the second section of her memoir, Shulman reflected on the alienation and confusion she felt upon her return to New York City, and the difficulty she had with identifying what she loved about both worlds.
"This is a book about reconciliation," Shulman said. "And at the heart of it is a political question. How can you be alone on an island as I was and be content and yet be in a world that is filled with injustice?"
Shulman emphasized that she did resolve this conflict, and read excerpts from the third section of her book, "The World," which explains this reconciliation.
"I found that [the dichotomy] was really not a contradiction at all. You can find everything everywhere if what you need is inside of you," she said. "Everything is connected. There really are no islands; they are all mountain tops which are joined under the sea. You can't escape because whatever happens in one place happens in some form in every other."
Audience reaction to Shulman's presentation was overwhelmingly positive.
"She is a wonderful voice for those of us who are just starting to think about these issues and for those of us who are of her generation," said audience member Anne Sanford. "She is a wonderful voice for those of us who don't have the time or the talent to do the thinking."
Standing in line for an autograph with her original copy of "Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen" in hand, Duke parent Susan Salsbury said that Shulman was "terrific...She has been one of my favorites since after college so we raced down here so we could hear her speak."
Shulman's new book comes in the wake of a history of literary success. It began in 1969 with the publication of the essay "Marriage Agreement," a revolutionary two-part "contract" which proposed that men and woman equally share housework and child care. First published in a feminist magazine, the essay quickly garnered wide-spread attention, receiving a six-page spread in "Life Magazine" and publication in "Redbook."
While Shulman has enjoyed success with a number of books, and is frequently published in periodicals, her signature work is considered to be "Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen," a humorous though critical expose which Shulman said "tried to show all the social ideals that produced the ideal, sexy woman and mother in the 1940s and 50s."
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