The queen is in the garbage, by Lila Karp

 

This is a reissue of the 1971 novel by radical feminist Lila Karp, published as part of the Classic Feminist Writers Series by The Feminist Press at the City University of New York in 2007. Harriet is a 32 year old single and pregnant writer who lives in London with her increasingly unhinged and potentially violent boyfriend. She flies to New York to spend Christmas with friends and to get away from him, but she goes into labor early and spends Christmas Eve in the hospital. The queen is in the garbage tells the story of her night in the hospital interspersed with her memories of childhood and past romantic relationships. With an emotionally abusive mother, a physically abusive father, a sexually abusive uncle, and a bullying older brother, Harriet suffers from low self esteem and constantly seeks others' approval. While her memories throughout her 14-hour labor show her all the painful things in her past that led to her current predicament, it's not clear at the end whether she has learned anything or changed. This is a short (157 pages) and sad novel that puts a spotlight on how society worked against women and their independence at the beginning of the second wave of feminism.