Damned Woman

I have researched the unpublished manuscript of the posthumously published novel, The Garden of Eden (1986). I have focused on how the unpublished material emphasizes Catherine Bourne, the female protagonist, in provocative, new light, making her and this text worthy of strong consideration. Particularly, this material stresses the artistic conflict within her marriage; her creative sexual energy and action threaten the masculine, artistic world that her husband David Bourne clings to. The manuscript offers a powerful dynamic between competing masculine and feminine presences. Catherine emerges more complicated, deep, and powerful than the published novel conveys