The little-known writings that Erica Harth examines here reveal a remarkable chapter in the history of Western thought. Drawing upon current theoretical work in gender studies, cultural history, and literary criticism, Harth looks at how women in...

It is 1953, and the United States government is running amok with the likes of J. Edgar Hoover and Joe McCarthy. In the little village of Croton-on-Hudson, New York, a small group of leftist intellectuals, writers and artists feels under siege. After the suspicious deaths of two Crotonites, one a prominent anti-Communist newspaper publisher, the F.B.I. steps up its surveillance of the village. Spies, political passions, and intrigue, which echo even today, become the norm. Two fourteen-year-old girls, whose families are upended by the crisis, are willy-nilly cast into the role of amateur...