From what I know about Ursula, this is true. She spent her life doing what needed to be done and having faith that things would work out. (By the way, she never did say what her other virtue was!)
In the New York Sun, Carl Rollyson published a thoughtful review of Becoming the Ex-Wife on June 9, 2023. Here’s a brief excerpt:
“‘Ex-Wife’ and ‘The Sound and the Fury’ were both published in 1929. The first novel sold more than 100,000 copies and the second less than a tenth as much. Parrott and Faulkner had the same publisher, Hal Smith, who had a keen eye for genius and for groundbreaking books.
Parrott is forgotten and Faulkner is famous. This is so much more than a matter of quality, which is why we need biography to delve into an era that made Parrott a fortune from writing books, magazines stories, and movie scripts, while Faulkner languished — praised by certain discerning critics but with only occasional lucrative assignments in Hollywood and Saturday Evening Post short fiction paydays.”
It’s been wonderful to hear from readers of Becoming the Ex-Wife these past weeks! I welcome hearing your thoughts on the book—it makes my day.
People have asked how they can help me spread the word about my book, and the answer to that is easy: tell your friends about it, post about it on social media and tag me (plus #UrsulaParrott), and consider leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or your favorite online platform.
Do you have a book club? If you want a guest visitor—in person if you are local, by Zoom if not—to talk about Becoming the Ex-Wife (and also Ex-Wife if you want to bundle Parrott’s 1929 best-seller with it), please ask me! I want to help spread the gospel of Ursula however I can.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Marsha Gordon
