When She Was Good

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When She Was Good
First edition
AuthorPhilip Roth
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
PublisherRandom House
Publication date
May 12, 1967
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages306
OCLC31045007
813/.54 20
LC ClassPS3568.O855 W46 1995
Preceded byLetting Go 
Followed byPortnoy's Complaint 

When She Was Good (1967) is Philip Roth's only novel with a female protagonist. It is set in a small town in the American Midwest during the 1940s, and portrays a moralistic young woman, Lucy Nelson. When still a child, Lucy had her alcoholic father thrown in jail. Ever since then, she has been trying to reform the men around her, even if that ultimately means destroying herself in the process.