Lithuania

Tofylis, or the Marriage of Zose
by Žemaitė

Due to a Tsarist law that only the Cyrillic alphabet could be used in the press, this book was smuggled out of Lithuania for publication in East Prussia and the US. Its author Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė, using the pseudonym Žemaitė for protection, was an early feminist and keen advocate for the rights of the dispossesed in Lithuania. In this tiny book with a huge personality she tells the unusual tale of a maid in a large house in 1897, looking at life under the control of the wealthy men of the estate for those who had limited options for getting away.

Translated by Violeta Kelertas
Paper and Ink, 2018
First published in 1897
ISBN 9781911475347