Louis Duncan was, by her own account, a shy bookish child. Born in Philadelphia to professional photographer parents, the family moved to Sarasota Florida, so her parents could work as photographers for the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey circus. Duncan attended Duke University, but dropped out to marry her first husband. She wrote over 300 articles for various publications. After her family moved to Albuquerque, Duncan simultaneously taught journalism and earned a bachelor's degree in English.
Duncan had published many Y A novels since the mid 1960s, but her focus shifted to supernatural themes in the 1970s. Her books often echoed real adolescent anguish filtered through ghosts, witches, astral projection, and actual teacher murder. She wrote supernatural Y A novels until the late 1980s. When her youngest daughter Kaitlyn was murdered in 1989, she began to write books for younger children. Duncan wrote Who Murdered My Daughter to push police focus to solving her daughter's murder. Duncan died in 2016 ; In 2021 Albuquerque Police announced the arrest of Kaitlyn's killer.
Women's Lib was a hot topic in the 1970s. Some women spoke out for equality in the boardroom, the sports arena, the classroom, even in the home and bedroom. Other women derided this and believed women should be satisfied as housewives. More than ever before teenage girls were offered more choices for their future. College was easier to attend, certain jobs were no longer seeing strictly as "women's work." Women could indeed bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan (according to a commercial I was obsessed with as a child.) Daughters of Eve explores varied young women, their future hopes, and how they plan to attain those hopes. The novel also explores how men feel about women women's home, societal, and sexual roles.
The character of Ruth explores the dichotomy of women at home versus women at work. Ruth's mother takes a job to provide extra income so the family can afford to send Ruth's two older brothers to college. When Ruth says she wants to go to college too, her father finds the notion absurd. She can pay her own way or get married, then take classes after her kids grow older. Ruth points out that her brothers can pitch in with chores and her father pretty much says that will turn his sons gay. The 70s indeed were a stupider time. Ruth is made a housewife as a teenage girl. And what she says is both true and fair and not at all a parade for women's lib.
Ruth's older brother Peter dates Bambi, the "foxiest" girl in school. He has a reputation to uphold (sex) but Bambi doesn't want to end up pregnant. He nearly forces himself on Laura - the chubby girl of the club, thinking she'll be grateful for the attention. Laura sends him off and leaves the club. The girls later get revenge by shaving Peter's head - apt in the era of glorious David Cassidy like cascading manes.
Anne is an artist, and therefore closest to Irene. Anne becomes pregnant and must put aside art school. The pregnancy, coupled with a family tragedy, forces Anne and her boyfriend to marry. In Anne's case her boyfriend is happy with whatever she chooses. He loves her enough to support her no matter what. Irene feels that Anne is naive and ruining her life to accept a life of marriage and motherhood. As her teacher does Irene have a right to influence Anne's future?
The novel is most definitely a feminist one, with scientist girl, athletic girl - and in keeping with Duncan's supernatural bent - a psychic girl. But the girls never feel like cliches or caricatures. They all have unique aspirations and fight their own battles. But Irene becomes a villain as she seeks revenge on male society. To her all men are all the same. The biggest lie a man could tell a woman is "I love you." Irene did the work her boyfriend should have done and he was promoted ahead of her, without giving her credit. Irene becomes a obsessed with punishment and uses the girls to do her bidding, even if it means pitting them against each other.
Some girls get out while they can, others remain loyal and go to extremes to push the club's women positive message. Is the novel truly feminist if women turn against each other, especially at the behest of one woman? The main message of the novel is to not follow a leader blindly. But the novel comes dangerously close to misogyny by showing the girls as revenge bent harpies. But then again, isn't that how feminist are viewed, even today?
ARTICLES :
Daughters of Eve. Wikipedia.
Lois Duncan. Wikipedia.
