Zelda Popkin (née Feinberg; 5 July 1898 – 25 May 1983) was an American writer of

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s and mystery stories. She created

Mary Carner Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also cal ...

, one of the first professional female private detectives in fiction. Carner was a store detective who appeared in five novels.

Life

Zelda Popkin was married to Louis Popkin, and together they ran a small public relations firm until his death. They had two children, Roy and Richard.

Work

Popkin's most successful book was ''The Journey Home'', published in 1945, which sold nearly a million copies. ''Small Victory'', published in 1947, was one of the first American novels with a Holocaust theme, and ''Quiet Street'' (1951) was the first American novel about the creation of the state of Israel. She also wrote an autobiography, ''Open Every Door'' (1956), chronicling her childhood, life with her husband Louis Popkins, and life after his death. ''Herman Had Two Daughters'' (1968), a novel about two young Jewish women growing up in a small Pennsylvania town, is also largely autobiographical.

Awards

* 1952 Jewish National Book Award for ''Quiet Street''

Books

Mary Carner Crime Series

* Death Wears a White Gardenia (1938) * Time Off for Murder (1940) * Murder in the Mist (1940) * Dead Man's Gift (1941) * No Crime for a Lady (1942)

Novels

* So Much Blood (1944) * Journey Home (1945) * Small Victory (1947) * Walk Through the Valley (1949) * Quiet Street (1951) * Open Every Door (1956) * Herman Had Two Daughters (1968) * A Death of Innocence (1971) * Dear Once (1975)

Non fiction autobiography

* Open Every Door (1956)

References

External links

FantasticFiction
* http://www.uky.edu/~popkin * http://www.uky.edu/~popkin/zelda.htm 1898 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American novelists American mystery writers American women novelists Jewish American novelists Jewish women writers Women mystery writers 20th-century American women writers Plainfield High School (New Jersey) alumni 20th-century American Jews {{US-novelist-1890s-stub