Zelda Popkin (1898–1983)
Author of A Death of Innocence
About the Author
Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)
Series
Works by Zelda Popkin
Open every door 5 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1898-07-05
- Date of death
- 1983-05-25
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Columbia University
New York University School of Law - Occupations
- journalist
public relations manager
mystery novelist
novelist
autobiographer - Short biography
- Zelda Popkin, née Feinberg, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and attended Columbia University and NYU School of Law. At age 17, she became the first woman general assignment reporter for the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. In 1919, she married Louis Popkin and had two children. The couple worked together in a small public relations firm until his death in 1943. Popkin became a mystery writer and created Mary Carner, one of the first professional female private eyes in American fiction. Mary Carner was quite liberated for her day -- she frequently solved her cases while her husband stayed home to babysit their daughter. Popkin's Small Victory, for which she received the National Jewish Book Award in 1947, was one of the earliest U.S. novels to focus on the Holocaust. She also wrote Quiet Street (1951), the first novel in English about the 1948 struggle to establish the State of Israel. Her autobiography, Open Every Door (1956), recounted her childhood in small towns in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- New York, USA
Members
Reviews
Dear once is the multi-generational saga of the Springer family, Lithuanian Jews who immigrate to America at the turn of the 20th century. As the older generation lives in traditional ways (occasionally with tragic results) their children find ways to break away to live their own lives (also occasionally with tragic results.) The book focuses on Millie, beautiful and determined to live her own life, who falls in love young with a dubious actor, marries him and must then live with her show more choices. The story follows the couple through their early struggles and surprising success. When Millie, to oblige a family member, gets the couple involved in the anti-fascist cause, she shows seeds that will destroy her husband and alter all their lives.
The author draws her characters vividly and I found the story absorbing. The writing style is pleasant and the book reads easily. In many ways, Millie, the book's central focus, was the least interesting character and she would be hard sell as a main character published today. Millie falls in love young and is completely absorbed by her husband and children, so even though she is a rebel to her mother's generation she seems oddly old-fashioned. show less
The author draws her characters vividly and I found the story absorbing. The writing style is pleasant and the book reads easily. In many ways, Millie, the book's central focus, was the least interesting character and she would be hard sell as a main character published today. Millie falls in love young and is completely absorbed by her husband and children, so even though she is a rebel to her mother's generation she seems oddly old-fashioned. show less
When a mysterious man wearing a white gardenia is found dead in a New York department store at the beginning of a busy work day, store detective Mary Carner and her boss must find the answer quickly. Fun; interesting heroine for the time period.
Lists
Awards
Statistics
- Works
- 15
- Members
- 170
- Popularity
- #125,473
- Rating
- 3.2
- Reviews
- 2
- ISBNs
- 34
- Languages
- 2