from the book cover: Lifted Masks is the only collection of short stories brought together by Susan Glaspell, a notable feminist playwright and one of the vital figures in the development of American letters in this century. This collection proved pivotal to Glaspell's development as a writer.

Focusing on detail and evocation of place and manner, the stories in Lifted Mask draw attention to Glaspell's midwestern roots and demonstrate her early development as a social critic. They reflect attitudes about human relationships prevalent in the early twentieth century - attitudes not yet influenced by the roars of the "sophisticated" twenties. Glaspell's representation of the relationship between power and responsibility and her portrayal of the victim and the marginalized underdog offer us dynamic, polyphonic views of class in a growing nation. Her assertion of the triumph of the individual over the pressures of urban expanse and corrupt government still seemed possible in a nation in the midst of finding its identity. While the emerging image of the individual as conqueror might seem naive, it is in itself in formative and thought provoking, offering needed perspective in our jaded age.