Mizora: A World of Women (Bison Frontiers of Imagination)

In 1880, when the Cincinnati Commercial newspaper serialised this feminist utopian novel, ideas such as universal free education - a world where class had no meaning and where women are freed from domestic labour - were revolutionary. Much of the description of Mizora still sounds radical, though one might well blanch at blonde, blue-eyed maidens rulings the world and eating chemically created food." The Guardian Weekly, 16 March 2000 "Part of an intriguing imprint form the University of Nebraska Press, which is dedicated to unearthing lost SF from the turn of the last century. Mizora is one of the first-known feminist utopian novels and was originally published anonymously in 1880, when Bradley posited the question: what would happen to our culture if men ceased to exist? Rich in fantastical imagery and allegoric to a time of great upheaval from Russia and Eastern Europe into the USA."--Bizarre, May 2000

What would happen to our culture if men ceased to exist? Mary E. Bradley Lane explores this question in "Mizora", the first known feminist utopian novel written by a woman. Vera Zarovitch is a Russian noblewoman - heroic, outspoken, and determined. A political exile in Siberia, she escapes and flees north, eventually finding herself, adrift and exhausted, on a strange sea at the North Pole. Crossing a barrier of mist and brilliant light, Zarovitch is swept into the enchanted, inner world of Mizora. A haven of music, peace, universal education, and beneficial, advanced technology, "Mizora" is a world of women."Mizora" appeared anonymously in the Cincinnati Commercial in 1880 and 1881. Mary E. Bradley Lane concealed from her husband her role in writing the controversial story. Of great historical significance and a remarkable story, "Mizora" is now widely available in a modern, paperback edition. Introducing this "Bison Frontiers of Imagination" edition is Joan Saberhagen, coeditor of "Pawn to Infinity" and a member of the Very Small Array workshop, a group of science fiction writers in New Mexico.