Marion L. Bloom (1891 – March 10, 1975) was an American writer and nurse, and briefly a literary agent,[1] known for her nearly decade-long relationship with H. L. Mencken.
By the time she returned to the United States, Mencken had married the terminally ill Sara Haardt in 1930, who died four years later.
[4] According to Fred Hobson, Bloom was "an interesting character in her own right, a compelling figure not because she was special in any way, but because she was emblematic of the prototypical small-town girl, emerging from hardship, poverty and religious piety, who went to the city to pursue her own idea of the American Dream.
Bloom was never fully able to determine what version of that dream she wanted most — whether to succeed as a new woman, self-reliant professionally and emotionally, or whether to play a more traditional role and become the wife of a powerful man such as H. L. Mencken.
Martin suggests that Mencken attempted to conceal this relationship, hoping it would remain hidden within the extensive documentation of his literary accomplishments as an author and editor.
[citation needed] She worked for the Junior Red Cross in the late 1940s and was employed by the State Department in 1950, retiring ten years later.