Ann Lane was born October 12, 1908, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. She was born to Peter Clark Lane, Jr., a pharmacist, and Bertha James, a podiatrist. Although she had always dreamed of being a writer, Lane followed in her father’s footsteps and worked as a pharmacist. She practiced in her family’s drug store.

In 1938, Lane married George Petry. The couple moved to Harlem, New York shortly thereafter, There, Petry embarked upon her writing career. In 1943, she landed a position as an editor, columnist, and reporter for People’s Voice. In order to hone her writing skills, she took writing courses at Columbia University. She also joined the American Negro Theatre in Harlem.

In 1946, Petry’s first novel, The Street, was published. The Street depicts neighborhood life in Harlem, tackling subjects, like the racism and sexism that Black women are forced to endure. Petry is known as the pioneer of womanist/feminist writing and is the first Black female writer to achieve the status of ‘bestseller.’

Petry won several literary awards for her first novel. Ill-prepared for the notoriety, she moved back to Old Saybrook. She wrote her second novel, Country Place, which was published a year after The Street. Her first two novels are widely considered pieces of the Illinois Renaissance (1935-1953). She would not write another novel until 1971.

During the 1950s and the 1960s, Petry wrote several short stories and children’s books. In 1958, she moved to Hollywood, California in order to work on a film script, titled That Hill Girl. In 1971, she wrote her third novel, The Narrows. She also published a collection of short stories, titled Miss Muriel and Other Stories.

In 1972, Petry worked as a visiting professor at Miami University in Ohio. She held the same position at the University of Hawai’i in 1974. In 1983, she earned an honorary degree from Suffolk University. In 1988 and 1989, she received two more honorary degrees from the University of Connecticut and Mount Holyoke College. Ann Lane Petry died April 28, 1997, in her hometown of Old Saybrook, Connecticut. She was 88 years old.

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