When She Was Good is Philip Roth's only novel with a female protagonist, Lucy Nelson. It derives its title from a line in a nursery rhyme composed by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: There was a little girl Who had a little curl Right in the middle of her forehead; And when she was good, She was very, very good But when she was bad she was horrid.
| Author: | Philip Roth |
| Genre: | Novel, Fiction |
| Year published: | 1967 |
| Number of editions: | 4 |