A daring new anthology of short stories, 'The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe' features women's stories on the theme of women and fatness, edited by the award-winning scholar on US women's short story Susan Koppelman. Spanning from the 1890s through the 1990s, this vital collection explores the many psychological and emotional tensions in women's relationships to -- and perceptions of -- their physical selves. Addressing the peculiarities, the delights, and the shames of body politics that reside in the flesh, these stories of bodies that refuse to be contained deftly and astutely comment on popular notions of acceptable body types and behaviours. Whether celebrating bodies deemed transgressive or simply acknowledging that such bodies exist, these diverse literary representations of fatness render the unfettered body brilliantly -- unapologetically visible.

Hurst was one of the premiere literary chroniclers of poor and working class urban life in early 20th century America. Her stories contain vivid portraits of Eastern European immigrants struggling to survive a new land. She was also a pioneer in writing about the lives of working women, from maids to secretaries to garment workers, from prostitute to artists. A committed activist and an instinctive feminist, her stories document such issues as anti-Semitism, urban poverty, sexual harassment, and denial of worker's rights. And she weaves these issues in captivating, deeply human stories that capture her characters; struggles, triumphs, conflicts and loves, the rhythm of their language, and what Susan Koppelman in her introduction calls "the heroism of their daily days".

In this moving and poignant collection of short stories by a broad and vibrant group of American women writers, mothers and daughters describe their conflicts and consolations, their trusts and mistrusts, their loves and hates. In some stories, a mother sacrifices and struggles in order to provide her daughter with the opportunities she herself had been denied. In others, mothers and daughters share a renewed awareness of women's dependence on one another for survival. This multicultural collection of short stories written between the 1840s and the 1990s explores an ancient relationship with fresh vision and insight. Utilising a range of short story genres and incorporating diverse perspectives, these stories explore the maternal bonds between women and investigate the practice of family, exposing the complicated, bittersweet truths of women's intergenerational relationships.