Fanny Herself

Fanny Herself (1917) is a novel by Edna Ferber. Inspired by her experience as a young Jewish woman from the Midwest, Fanny Herself is the story of a young woman who recognizes the unhappiness in her life and decides to risk it all for something better. Lighthearted in nature, yet serious in its ideals, Ferber’s novel recalls the best of Fitzgerald in its unswerving commitment to humanity in all its beauty and heartbreak. “You could not have lived a week in Winnebago without being aware of Mrs. Brandeis.” Such a confident pronouncement proves even truer for young Fanny, whose mother is the Mrs. Brandeis in question. As the owner of Brandeis’ Bazaar—a successful store raised from the ashes of her deceased husband’s chronic mismanagement—Molly Brandeis is a deeply serious woman who wants nothing but the best for her daughter. Where they differ, of course, is in the definition of that deceptive superlative. While Molly wants to train her daughter to follow in her managerial footsteps, Fanny dreams of training as an artist in order to escape the confinement of small-town life. Consistently moving, frequently funny, and supremely true, Fanny Herself is an underappreciated novel from Pulitzer Prize winning author Edna Ferber. This edition of Edna Ferber’s Fanny Herself is a classic work of American literature reimagined for modern readers. Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book. With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.