Not Anyone's Wife

Zimbell House Publishing is holding open submissions for short stories set in the highest of society during the 1930’s and 40’s. In an age of glamour and propriety, an unattached, beautiful woman of a certain age was a problem. When the rules for desire were clouded with repression, the enjoyment of pleasure wrapped in unforgiving societal rules, and when ambition was only for men, what was an independent woman to do? Show our readers what the time period had to offer globally. In the USA a financial depression had a strangle hold, prohibition had just ended, and Hollywood made glamour a goal. Manners were paramount. Society had rules. In Europe, Fascism was rising and another world war was underway. Great strides in intercontinental aviation were made. Swing bands ruled. The time of country manor homes for the wealthy was coming to an end. Woman had the right to vote for over a decade, and this new independence was was shaking up the world as men knew it. We’re looking for stories with the nuance of A Letter to Three Wives (movie, 1949) and the societal upheavals of a of Downtown Abbey. Show our readers what a modern (for the era), intelligent woman could do, and what the repercussions are when the rules are broken. Does she flaunt her single status? Why is she refusing to marry? Is she wealthy? Does she create her own wealth or is it inherited? How does she move through the upper echelons? What are her desires and how does she obtain them? What gives her pleasure-travel, art, music, or is she evil and enjoys destroying others? Where is her ambition aimed? Does she succeed or is she ultimately thwarted? What is her education and background? Is she an orphaned child of wealthy parents and forgoes the societal pressure of marriage and children for a career in archaeology? Or is something broken inside her and she bucks the system for the pleasure of mayhem?

Country of Publication

United States