author

Mary P. Lowe

A little-known coauthor of an early feminist science-fiction novel, she helped bring a bold utopian story into print at the turn of the twentieth century. Her work is tied to reform-minded journalism as well as one of the earliest American feminist speculative novels.

1 Audiobook

Nequa; or, The Problem of the Ages

Nequa; or, The Problem of the Ages

by Alcanoan O. Grigsby, Mary P. Lowe

About the author

Mary P. Lowe is best remembered as the coauthor of Nequa; or, The Problem of the Ages, a novel published in Topeka, Kansas, in 1900 with Alcanoan O. Grigsby. The book is now often described as one of the earliest feminist science-fiction works in the United States, blending utopian politics, gender themes, and hollow-earth adventure.

Available historical references connect her to reform-era publishing. Sources associated with the book say she was involved with The New Woman, a women's suffrage paper, and with Equity, a Populist newspaper that serialized Nequa before it appeared in book form.

Some editions and related texts also suggest that ideas in Nequa may have drawn on work by T. A. H. Lowe, whose widow is identified as Mary P. Lowe. Even so, the clearest confirmed legacy is her role in bringing this unusual and forward-looking novel into print.