An uncollected story written by

J. D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger got his start in 1940, before serving in World War II, by publishing several short stories in '' ...

, "The Long Debut of Lois Taggett" is the tale of a

debutante A debutante, also spelled débutante, ( ; from french: débutante , "female beginner") or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and, as a new adult, is presented to society at a formal " ...

and her long process of coming out. Throughout this story, Lois struggles to deal with the harshness of reality and maintain her own humanity. Before she can let go of pretense, she must first deal with a psychotic husband, a loveless second marriage, and her child's

crib death Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usual ...

. It was first published in the September 1942 edition of ''Story''.

References

1942 short stories Short stories by J. D. Salinger {{1940s-story-stub