Jack London's Women
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A01=Clarice Stasz
American literary history
American naturalism and gender
archival recovery of women's histories
Author_Clarice Stasz
behind-the-scenes lives of literary figures
Bess Maddern London
biographical revisionism
Category=DNB
Category=DSB
Category=DSRC
Category=JBSF1
Charmian Kittredge London
complex portrayals of marriage and creativity
correspondence and archival research
diaries and letters in literary studies
domestic and emotional labor in literary success
early twentieth-century American authors
early twentieth-century gender politics
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=0
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
female agency in male-dominated literary circles
feminist biography
feminist reinterpretation of Jack London
Flora Wellman
gender and authorship
gendered perspectives in biography
interracial relationships in early America
Jack London biography
Jennie Prentiss
literary celebrity culture
literary fame and gender dynamics
literary legacy and family conflict
literary relationships and legacy-building
motherhood and mentorship in literature
posthumous reputation and inheritance battles
racial and class intersections in literary life
rediscovering forgotten women in literature
self-made man myth
women behind famous men
women in Jack London's life
women writers and partners in the Progressive Era
women's contributions to American literature
women's erasure in literary history
women's influence on male writers
women's roles in shaping literary icons
writer's relationships and inspiration
Product details
- ISBN 9781625340658
- Weight: 333g
- Dimensions: 155 x 233mm
- Publication Date: 04 Sep 2013
- Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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At age twenty-three, Jack London (1876 - 1916) sold his first story, and within six years he was the highest paid and most widely read writer in America. To account for his success, he created a fiction of himself as the quintessential self-made man. But as Clarice Stasz demonstrates in this absorbing collective biography, London always relied on a circle of women who nurtured him, sheltered him, and fostered his legacy.
Using newly available letters and diaries from private collections, Stasz brings this diverse constellation of women to life. London was the son of freethinking Flora Wellman, yet found more maternal comfort from freed slave Jennie Prentiss and his stepsister Eliza. His early loves included a British-born consumptive, a Jewish socialist, and an African American. His first wife, Bess Maddern, was a teacher and devoted mother to daughters Bess and Joan, while his second wife, Charmian Kittredge, shared his passion for adventure and served as a model for many characters in his writings. Following his death, the various women who survived him both promoted his legacy and suffered the consequences of being constantly identified with a famous man.
In recasting London's life through the eyes of three generations of women, Stasz manages to untangle his seemingly contradictory attitudes and actions. She also reveals the struggle that ensued, after his death, among family members and scholars over how he should be remembered. What emerges from this well-researched book is a new understanding of London and a compelling portrayal of the women who knew him best.
Using newly available letters and diaries from private collections, Stasz brings this diverse constellation of women to life. London was the son of freethinking Flora Wellman, yet found more maternal comfort from freed slave Jennie Prentiss and his stepsister Eliza. His early loves included a British-born consumptive, a Jewish socialist, and an African American. His first wife, Bess Maddern, was a teacher and devoted mother to daughters Bess and Joan, while his second wife, Charmian Kittredge, shared his passion for adventure and served as a model for many characters in his writings. Following his death, the various women who survived him both promoted his legacy and suffered the consequences of being constantly identified with a famous man.
In recasting London's life through the eyes of three generations of women, Stasz manages to untangle his seemingly contradictory attitudes and actions. She also reveals the struggle that ensued, after his death, among family members and scholars over how he should be remembered. What emerges from this well-researched book is a new understanding of London and a compelling portrayal of the women who knew him best.
Clarice Stasz is professor of history at Sonoma State University. Her books include The Vanderbilt Women, The Rockefeller Women, and American Dreamers.
