Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) was born in New England, a descendant of the prominent and influential Beecher family. In 1884 she married Charles Water Stetson. After giving birth, Charlotte sank into a deep depression. She entered a sanitarium in Philadelphia to undergo the 'rest cure', a controversial treatment, which forbade any type of physical activity or intellectual stimulation. In 1892, she published the now-famous story “The Yellow Wall-Paper.” In 1898, her most famous nonfiction book, Women and Economics, was published. With its publication, and subsequent translation into seven languages, Gilman earned international acclaim. In 1900, she married her first cousin, George Houghton Gilman. Over the next thirty-five years, she wrote and published hundreds of stories and poems and more than a dozen books.

Kate Bolick’s first book, the best-selling Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own, was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2015. A contributing editor for The Atlantic, Bolick is also host of “Touchstones at The Mount,” an annual interview series at Edith Wharton’s country estate, in Lenox, Massachusetts. Previously, she was executive editor of Domino magazine, and a columnist for The Boston Globe’s Ideas section. She teaches writing at New York University, in both the Cultural Reporting and Criticism MA program and the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Bolick speaks frequently at colleges and conferences, and has appeared on the Today show, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, MSNBC, and numerous NPR programs across the country.