The Duchess of Angus

Found novel with autobiographical foundation; attic discovery; known secret within family that she wrote; a woman who hid these parts of herself Features themes of sexual assault; sexually promiscuous characters Snapshot of WW2 American Southwest/ San Antonio/ Texas Highlights sexuality and race dynamics in the 1940s WW2 military side-focus *When twenty-year-old Jane Davis returns home to the flophouse hotel her mother runs in San Antonio, Texas, in the early 1940s, World War II is coming to a head and Military City USA is abuzz with cadets looking for a good time. Jane, who has just graduated from college with an English degree, takes a sales job at Joske’s department store and finds herself surrounded by a cast of characters: half-brother Jess, a veteran who lost a foot in the war; new best friend and risk-taker Wade; and Lillie du Lac, her mother’s friend who’s on a “Vogue” diet of grapes and gin and 7Up. Jane’s experiences feature such colorful and iconic San Antonio landmarks as the Riverwalk, Fort Sam Houston, the Saint Anthony Hotel, and Dairy Queen. Margaret Brown Kilik’s The Duchess of Angus is a coming-of-age novel laced with candor and intelligence in prefeminist America. Willa Cather, Henry James, and D. H. Lawrence provide little escape from the existential ennui Jane experiences in San Antonio, a place marked by racism toward Mexicans and Mexican Americans, class distinctions, and the era’s confining attitudes about gender and sexuality. As Jane defines her identity and manages daily life, the culturally static underbelly of San Antonio begins to show. Social mores are wrought with judgment, it’s harder to lose one’s virginity than it would appear, and sexual violence lurks at the edges of relationships with strangers and family members alike. Kilik’s own experiences are woven throughout this autobiographical story, which was written in the early 1950s but only recently discovered by family members. In the spirit of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Carson McCullers, and Sylvia Plath, The Duchess of Angus portrays a young woman navigating a constricting reality in a deeply conflicted and rapidly changing world.* Author was infamous NYC Gallery owner - Key Gallery San Antonio as a melting pot - foreshadow to modern day USA Similar in vein to The Bell Jar and Catcher in the Rye