Black Oxen by Gertrude Atherton

The story centers on the relationship between thirty-four year old columnist Lee Clavering, and Mary Zattiany, a 58 year old woman who, through modern science, has regained her youth (although this is unknown at the beginning, but is fairly easily guessed). The story takes place within New York’s high society and there is much criticism of both the older and younger generations in the 1920s. The older generation is argued to be unreasonably caught up in convention while the younger generation is shown as being too eager to flout their straying from those same conventions.

The title Black Oxen comes from the play The Countess Cathleen by William Butler Yeats.

The years like great black oxen tread the world
And God the herdsman goads them on behind
And I am broken by their passing feet.

This is where things get odd and fascinating. Yeats and Atherton both received what was known as the Steinach treatment, which was supposed to do exactly what the operation in Black Oxen did: restore youth, not just in terms of physical appearance, but mental ability. Whether or not there was any validity to the procedure, Yeats and Atherton both believed that the procedure worked. In the case of Atherton (and her heroine), the procedure involved light x-ray irradiation of the ovaries. This was supposed to cause the production of hormones that stopped being produced after menopause, and therefore undo some of the aging process. Although Atherton did not publicly admit to having the treatment, that she did have it was an open secret. 

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