Status
Collection
Publication
Description
"In 1920, Americans were captivated by the childhood diary of Opal Whiteley, an enigmatic young woman from a small logging town in the Northwest. The diary, which Whiteley claimed a cruel foster sister had torn to shreds many years before, was painstakingly pasted together before publication. It chronicled Opal's adventures in the forests of Oregon at the age of seven and was hailed as a revelatory portrait of a child's relationship to God and the natural world. It also contained strange clues to a mystery surrounding the child's birth. Why were parts of the diary - written in crayon on old paper bags and butcher paper - in French? And who were the mysterious Angel Mother and Father the child referred to?" "The diary became an overnight publishing sensation, and Opal, a beautiful, charming twenty-two-year-old, quickly became a celebrity. Some skeptics dismissed the diary as a hoax, but others remained convinced. Opal is the story of her legacy and of the many ways she has been perceived: New Age prophet and environmentalist, mad genius, long-lost princess, and flamboyant fraud. It is also the tale of the whirlwind and eccentric life she led on several continents after the diary was published and the host of rich, famous, and high-born figures she enchanted and counted as her friends." "Thoroughly examining Opal's personal papers and letters and interviewing those who knew her, Katherine Beck has put together the most complete picture of her life yet."--Jacket.… (more)
User reviews
Beck believes the diary to have been a literary hoax, and Opal to have been mentally ill. (Opal entered a mental hospital in 1948 and lived there until her death in 1992, and she had had "breakdowns" and exhibited erratic behavior earlier in life.) What Beck doesn't explore is the character of Opal's illness and how it may have affected her culpability in perpetrating a literary hoax. Was she deliberate and calculating, delusional, or a bit of both? Sometimes Beck just about blames Opal for being sick.
"Opal" is an interesting read but not worth seeking out unless you have a special interest in Opal herself or literary hoaxes.
The diary contained hints that she was related to European royalty. For the rest of her life she insisted this was true. She got further and further from reality, and ended her life in a British asylum. From this account, it sounds as though she was schizophrenic.
It has a lively style that I enjoyed and involves many odd people (LA faith healers, New England theosophists, New Age writers). I really enjoyed this.
There seems to be a fair amount of research made into the facts, but many of them aren’t backed up with
I really could use better editing, but I’m starting to thing that’s just how non-fiction is now. Thoughts and events repeat and are strewn about in a strange order that make it a little hard to follow at times.
I still enjoyed quite a bit and it’s worth reading if you’re interested in the subject.