Library Journal
Until recently, feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) had been best known for her nonfiction writing, including Women and Economics (1898). Today, however, her fictional works--especially The Yellow Wallpaper and Herland --frequent high school and college reading lists. Like Herland, Benigna Machiavelli was first published serially in Gilman's own magazine, The Forerunner , appearing in 1914; it is now published in book form for the first time. A very funny fable, Benigna Machiavelli is the ''autobiography'' of 18-year-old Benigna MacAvelly, who is disgusted by her father's tyranny and abuse and sets out to free her mother, her older sister, and herself from his presence. At that time (the turn of the century), women and children had very little control, and yet through education, perseverance, and not a little manipulation, Benigna succeeds. Appropriate for academic and women's studies collections.-- Mary Margaret Benson, Linfield Coll. Lib., McMinnville, Ore.