Before the Cat in the Hat became a global icon and long before the Grinch tried to steal Christmas, Theodor Geisel—the man we all know as Dr. Seuss—tried to write a book for adults. It wasn't a secret. He didn't hide it. But if you’ve never heard of The Seven Lady Godivas, you aren't alone. It’s the book that almost ended his career before it really began.
Honestly, the story behind it is kinda weird.
In 1939, Geisel was already a successful advertiser. He was the "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" guy. He had money, he had a reputation for being funny, and he had a contract with Random House. He decided it was time to move away from the "kid stuff" he’d toyed with in And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. He wanted to prove he could handle "adult" humor. The result was a bizarre, pseudo-mythological retelling of the Lady Godiva legend, filled with naked cartoon women who didn't look particularly sexy and a plot that centered on the "true" origins of horse racing.
It flopped. Hard.
We’re talking about a book that saw its first printing of 10,000 copies linger on shelves for years. Geisel himself later joked that it was the only book he ever wrote that was "too short for a doorstop and too thin for a booster chair." But looking back at it now, through the lens of 2026 literary history, it’s a fascinating glimpse into a creative mind trying—and failing—to find its lane.
What the Seven Lady Godivas Was Actually About
Most people assume Dr. Seuss only wrote about Whos and Loraxes. But in this 1939 release, he tackled the legend of Coventry. Or, he tackled his version of it. The premise is basically this: there aren't just one Lady Godiva. There are seven sisters.
The sisters—named things like Gerty, Gussie, and Glenda—all live in a castle with their father, Lord Godiva. When the father dies in a tragic horse-related accident, the sisters make a vow. They won't get married until they can discover some "useful" new truth about horses to benefit mankind. To stay true to their quest and keep themselves "un-distracted," they decide to go everywhere entirely naked.
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It sounds scandalous. It wasn't.
Geisel’s style was already set in stone by 1939. His drawings of the naked Godiva sisters weren't provocative; they looked like the same bulbous, noodle-limbed creatures he’d later use for characters in Horton Hears a Who. They had big noses and lumpy bodies. Critics at the time didn't know what to make of it. Was it a children’s book with nudity? Was it a sophisticated satire? It sat in this weird middle ground that satisfied absolutely nobody.
The sisters eventually "discover" things like the horseshoe and the saddle. It’s all very absurd. The humor is dry, leaning heavily on the irony of these women wandering around stark naked while being completely ignored by the men in the story, who are far more interested in the technicalities of the horses.
Why Did It Fail So Badly?
Timing is everything in publishing. In 1939, the world was on the brink of a massive war. People wanted escapism, sure, but they also wanted things they could categorize. The Seven Lady Godivas defied categorization.
Bennett Cerf, the legendary head of Random House, reportedly told Geisel that the problem was he couldn't draw sexy women. He was right. Geisel’s "beauties" looked like his beasts. There was a fundamental disconnect between the "naughty" premise of the book and the innocent, whimsical art style. You’ve got a book marketed to adults that looks like it belongs in a nursery, featuring naked women who look like Muppets.
It was a marketing nightmare.
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- Booksellers didn't know which shelf to put it on.
- Parents were horrified if they accidentally bought it for kids.
- Adults looking for "spicy" literature were bored to tears.
Geisel later admitted he simply didn't understand how to write for adults. He thought if he just took his usual nonsense and added a bit of "mature" subject matter, it would work. It didn't. He learned the hard way that his genius lay in the logic of the illogical—a trait that works perfectly for children but feels aimless in a satirical adult novella.
The Redemption of a Flop
Interestingly, the book didn't stay dead forever. Because Dr. Seuss eventually became the most famous children’s author in history, his failures became valuable. Collectors began hunting for those original 1939 copies.
In 1987, Random House actually reissued the book. By then, the public’s "Seuss-mania" was so strong that people were willing to buy it just for the sake of completionism. It finally found an audience, not as a masterpiece of humor, but as a curiosity. It’s like finding an early, terrible demo tape from a legendary rock band. You don't listen to it because it’s good; you listen to it to see how they became who they are.
A Note on the Art Style
If you look closely at the illustrations in The Seven Lady Godivas, you can see the blueprints for his later masterpieces. The architecture in the background—the leaning towers and impossibly thin archways—is pure Seuss. The facial expressions of the horses are identical to the facial expressions of the Grinch’s dog, Max.
It’s a visual bridge.
It shows a creator who had the "look" down pat but hadn't quite figured out how to tell a story that resonated with his own peer group. He was trying to be clever in a way that felt forced. When he pivoted back to children's books, he stopped trying to be "clever" and started being "imaginative." That was the key.
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Lessons From the Godiva Disaster
What can we actually learn from this weird footnote in literary history? Honestly, it’s a lesson in staying in your lane—or at least knowing how to merge. Geisel’s failure with the Godiva sisters taught him that his art style dictated his audience.
- Visual Cues Matter. If your art looks like it's for kids, the content needs to follow suit, or the cognitive dissonance will kill your sales.
- Niche is King. Dr. Seuss tried to do "general humor" and failed. He did "whimsical children's verse" and changed the world.
- Failure Isn't Fatal. If Geisel had quit after the Godivas flopped, we wouldn't have The Lorax or Green Eggs and Ham.
He didn't let the embarrassment of a "naked book" stop him from becoming a household name. He just tucked the Godiva sisters away and went back to drawing cats in hats.
How to Find a Copy Today
If you want to read The Seven Lady Godivas now, you have two real options. You can scour eBay for the 1939 first edition, which will cost you a small fortune—especially if it still has the dust jacket. Or, you can find the 1987 reprint, which is much more affordable and widely available in used bookstores.
It’s worth a read, but keep your expectations in check. Don't go in expecting the rhythmic perfection of One Fish, Two Fish. It’s clunky. It’s weird. It’s a bit repetitive. But it’s also an essential piece of the puzzle for anyone who wants to understand how a man named Ted Geisel transformed himself into the monolithic "Dr. Seuss."
Actionable Insights for Collectors and Fans
- Check the Copyright Page: If you find a copy, look for the 1939 date versus the 1987 reissue. The price difference is thousands of dollars.
- Study the Backgrounds: Pay attention to the "Seussian" machines and structures. You’ll see prototypes for the inventions used in The Sneetches.
- Contextualize the Nudity: Remember that this was published in an era where even showing a couple in the same bed on TV was taboo. The fact that a mainstream publisher put this out is a testament to how much they believed in Geisel’s potential.
The book remains a testament to the fact that even the greatest creative minds have to stumble before they find their rhythm. The Seven Lady Godivas wasn't a mistake; it was a necessary detour on the road to Whoville. Look for a copy if you want to see the "human" side of a legend—the side that tried to tell a joke to adults and was met with total silence.