Status
Available
Publication
Reading, Mass. : Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., c1994.
Description
Paula Blanchard plunges us into the New England literary life of that time, into the circles of Henry James, Lowell, Howells, Whittier, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. In chapters of interest to contemporary feminists, she also delves into Jewett's close relationship with women - from the young Willa Cather on whom she had a lasting influence, to the gifted artist and book designer Sarah Wyman Whitman and the flamboyant "Mrs. Jack" Gardner, and especially to Annie Fields, her partner in a sustaining "Boston marriage."
User reviews
LibraryThing member labwriter
I've probably read hundreds of biographies. This one stands out as one of my favorites. I like Sarah Orne Jewett, but I love Blanchard's biography. She gets everything right in this book. It's well-written, excellently researched, and of course includes index, bibliography, and notes. She doesn't
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dump every fact she knows into this thing; the length is proportional to the life. She gives the reader enough details of place and time to put the subject into context. Blanchard's analysis of Jewett's body of work is solid and perceptive. This book is an excellent example of the biographer's craft. If this book disappeared off my shelf, it's definitely one I would replace. Show Less