Alther, Lisa

(US, 1944– )

Widely known for her first novel, Kinflicks (1976), Lisa Alther was born and raised in Tennessee, and educated at Wellesley College. Kinflicks was an immediate success, being both a very funny and honest account of a girl growing up in Redneck country, at odds with her society and her family values. The novel switches between the present, when the heroine Ginny's mother is dying, and the past, when Ginny is a child. Feminist concerns preoccupy Lisa Alther in all of her novels. Original Sins (1981) looks at the lives of five childhood friends and Other Women (1984) concerns itself with therapy and lesbian relationships.

Erica Jong, Marge Piercy, Toni Morrison  SA