The Living Present

'The Living Present' is a non-fiction text by Atherton about her stay in France during which she became deeply acquainted with its people, customs, and traditions. The book reads like a study of French life at the time – replete with vibrancy, cultural peculiarities and sheer spirit. Atherton was greatly influenced by and enamoured with French culture, and this led in turn to this epistolary ode in honour of France and the French people.

Her feminist side is also at play, with Atherton paying close attention to the lives and mores of French women of the day all throughout the course of the book.

A highly recommended reading to fans of Gertrude Atherton and Francophiles. 'The Living Present' and its photographic & deeply reflective musings, especially in relation to what it means to be a woman in the modern era, may bring to mind the writing style of Virginia Woolf and Susan Sontag.



Gertrude Atherton was an American author who lived in the period 1857-1948. She wrote novels, short stories, essays and articles, and her work often dealt with feminism and politics. Her personal life inspired her to write about women and their rights as she felt genuine disappointment in her own marriage, because her husband was not willing to let her be a writer. After his death, Atherton opened up to the world and started developing her career as a novelist. She is best known for the novel "Black Oxen" which was published in 1923. The work was so well accepted by the public, that it was made into a silent film the same year. In 1946 she published the autobiography "My San Francisco: A Wayward Biography".