Charlotte Perkins Gilman

With Her in Ourland Annotated Charlotte Perkins Gilman

With Her in Ourland: Sequel to Herland is a feminist novel and sociological commentary written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The novel is a follow-up and sequel to Herland (1915), and picks up immediately following the events of Herland, with Terry, Van, and Ellador traveling from Herland to "Ourland" (the contemporary 1915-16 world). The majority of the novel follows Van and Ellador's travels throughout the world, and particularly the United States, with Van curating their explorations through the then-modern world, while Ellador offers her commentary and "prescriptions" from a Herlander's perspective, discussing topics such as the First World War, foot binding, education, politics, economics, race relations, and gender relations. Like Herland, With Her in Ourland was originally published as a serial novel in Gilman's self-published magazine, The Forerunner in monthly installments starting in January of 1916 (the final chapter of Herland was published in December of 1915). Despite the fact that Herland and With Her in Ourland were both published serially and without interruption, With Her in Ourland was not re-published in a stand-alone book form until 1997, eighteen years after the re-publication of Herland. Though the majority of the novel takes place within the contemporary 1915-1916 world, due to its connection to Herland, it is often considered as part of a "Utopian Trilogy," along with Moving the Mountain (1911) and Herland, though Gilman herself never indicated a "trilogy" structure.