Early Novels
Zoe Anderson Norris. The Color of His Soul. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1902 (black silhouette), and R. F. Fenno, 1903 (polychrome).
The novel’s heroine, Dolly, a Southern writer, unmasks her Manhattan neighbor Cecil Mallon, a charismatic Socialist orator preaching sympathy for “wage slaves,” as a hypocrite and predator. His teenage mistress, a seamstress, dies in childbirth. Days after the 1902 edition appeared to rave reviews, Zoe’s neighbor Courtenay Lemon, a charismatic Socialist orator, threatened libel lawsuits. Funk & Wagnalls pulled the book—few copies survive. Zoe’s 1903 reprint with the less prestigious Fenno sold poorly. John Kennedy “Jack” Bryans, Zoe’s second husband, illustrated both covers.
Zoe Anderson Norris. The Quest of Polly Locke. New York: J. S. Ogilvie, 1902. James Corrothers. The Black Cat Club. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1902.
Zoe’s second husband Jack Bryans provided silhouette illustrations for her second novel, about a naïve American traveling in Europe, emptying her purse for disabled beggars, and for a novel by Jack and Zoe’s friend James Corrothers, a Black author and pastor. Jack’s cartoons also appeared in newspapers and periodicals and on postcards. Soon after their 1902 marriage, Zoe tired of life with a freelance humorist. “It’s a deadly thing to see people grind out fun,” she mused in The New York Times.
View the whole texts of The Quest of Polly Locke and The Black Cat Club online.