Intimate Warriors

Boyce and Hapgood met in 1898, when both were living in New York City's Greenwich Village and working at a newspaper edited by Lincoln Steffens. They married the following year and continued to write: pk Boyce published novels and stories while Hapgood produced newspaper essays that were collected into books. Throughout their 45-year marriage, during which they had four children, these two very different people struggled with infidelity, freedom and commitment; the balance of work and familial responsibilities; and the division of child care between husband and wife--issues far in advance of their time. As Trimberger, women's studies coordinator at Sonoma State University, ably shows in her introduction, Boyce and Hapgood were unusual in their ability to cope with an often conflicted relationship without it ``dissolving or reverting to more traditional gender roles.''p. Trimberger develops her premise by letting the two speak for themselves through excerpts from their books and letters. The result is a colorful and intriguing view of this striking pair trapped in but energetically fighting against the stereotypes and expectations of their era. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)