Unveiling a Parallel: A Romance

Unveiling a Parallel: A Romance by Alice Ilgenfritz Jones. Unveiling a Parallel was a collaboration between two 19th century US women writers who lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Like Charlotte Gilman's Herland, it has a fairly standard framing story. This title, however, has a bit more balance between exposition and narrative than most. It also has some strong women characters, unlike the male-penned utopias where women are, more than often, just set-dressing. The unnamed narrator, a man, arrives at Mars after a flight by 'aeroplane.' Mars is much like Earth, and inhabited by Earth-like flora and fauna. Where it differs is in the social roles of the genders. Women occupy a place of equality; they have their own social clubs, take lovers, have children out of wedlock, and can even propose marriage to men.