Creating Fiction From History: 8/3/2022

Persephone, Lilith, and Phantasia. Poor little girls! The first two names weren't so bad; they could be condensed to Percy and Lily (thought Percy sounded a bit boyish.) But Phantasia? What could possibly be done with that? Phanty? Fanny? Tase? Tasia? Not much better!

The Houseman girls really didn't have any choice. Their mother was of Greek heritage, while their father was, of all things, an Askenazi Jew of Belarussian descent. The world into which these particular girls were born, 1840s New York City, was not an easy one, nor was it very comfortable.

For the first several years of their liv...