Since Tess Slesinger died relatively young (at thirty-nine), her literary production was sparse, and her reputation as a writer is based on only a few works, including one novel, entitled The Unpossessed (1934), one collection of short stories, nine uncollected stories, and eight screenplays. Though not very well known, her short fiction, a subtle blend of satire and gentility, deserves critical attention.

Slesinger was born into a Hungarian-Russian family on 16 July 1905 in New York City, where she grew up. She was educated at Ethical Culture Society School, Swarthmore College, and the Columbia School of Journalism, where she received her degree in 1925. In 1928 she married Columbia classmate Herbert Solow, a political journalist who circulated within a powerful group of New York Jewish intellectuals and who soon became assistant editor of the Menorah Journal .

Slesinger joined her husband's literary circle by transforming observations from her diary into stories. In March 1930 she...