Harriette Simpson Arnow is an American treasure. Of the twenty-five stories in this collection, fifteen were previously unpublished. Until now, the short fiction of Arnow has remained relatively obscure despite the literary acclaim given to her novels The Dollmaker and Hunter’s Horn. These stories, written early in her career for the most part, reveal an artistic vision and narrative skill and serve as harbingers for her later work. They echo her interest in both agrarian and urban communities, the sharpening of her social conscience, and her commitment to creating credible and complex characters. This collection is organized against the backdrop of her life, from Kentucky in the 1920s to Ohio and Kentucky in the 1930s and to Michigan in the 1940s. As Arnow fans read these early gems, they will be led from gravel roads to city pavement and open layers of Arnow’s development as a novelist to expose the full range of her contributions to American literature.
In 1938, Esquire purchased "The Hunters," which was eventually published as "The Two Hunters," a chilling story of a seventeen-year- old boy’s confrontation with a deputy sheriff. At the time, Esquire did not accept submissions from women, and its editors had no idea that writer H. L. Simpson was not a man. Years later, she admitted in an interview, "it worried me a little, that big lie, but I thought if they wanted a story, let them have it." Esquire paid her $125 for this story. The contributor’s notes at the back of the magazine include a photo of "H.L.Simpson," actually a photo of one of her brothers-in-law. It was her little joke on a publisher that discriminated against women....
—from the Introduction
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Born in Wayne County, Kentucky on July 7, 1908, Arnow lived on a farm near Ann Arbor, Michigan for most of her life. Arnow attended Berea College for two years (1926 - 1928) before completing her degree in sciences at the University of Louisville (1930). She then taught school in both Louisville and in Pulaski County, Kentucky before moving to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1934 in order to concentrate on her writing.
Supporting herself at various times as a waitress, a library clerk, and as an assistant for the Federal Writers\' Project, Arnow produced several essays and her first novel, Mountain Path, which she published as Harriette Simpson in 1936. In 1939, she married Harold Arnow; they purchased a farm in the Daniel Boone Forest where they lived as writers and farmers.
By 1944, the Arnows had moved to Michigan where Harold was a reporter for The Detroit News. In 1949 Hunter\'s Horn was published, followed by The Dollmaker (1954), Seed Time on the Cumberland (1960), Flowering of the Cumberland (1963), The Weedkiller\'s Daughter (1970), The Kentucky Trace (1974), and Old Burnside (1977).
Arnow also published numerous articles and pamphlets and was an active instructor in the Appalachian Writers Workshop held annually at the Hindman Settlement School. Arnow died on March 21, 1986 and was buried at her farm at Keno in Pulaski County, Kentucky.
- Courtesy, Kentucky Konnections
Sandra L. Ballard, professor of English at Appalachian State University, is the editor of Appalachian Journal. Ballard is a coeditor of 'The Carolinas & Appalachian States' in the Smithsonian Guide to Historic America series
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This review is from: The Collected Short Stories of Harriette Simpson Arnow (Paperback)
In this long overdue collection, Ballard and Chung have carefully presented Harriette Arnow's twenty-five extant stories, including fifteen previously unpublished ones. Arranged roughly in the order in which they were written, each one is prefaced with one or two paragraphs documenting the circumstances in which it was written, published or rejected. These stories range from the simple and naïve to the learned and sophisticated. "Winky Creek's New Song" and "Dreams Come True" were written when Ms Arnow was still in high school, while later stories like "King Devil's Bargain" and "Ketchup-Making Saturday" were studies for two of her novels. One of the most terse and stunning short pieces I have ever read and originally published in the small literary journal THE NEW TALENT in 1935, "A Mess of Pork" alone is worth the price of the volume.
The ten previously published stories are: Marigolds and Mules A Mess of Pork The Washerwoman's Day The Two Hunters Blessed-Blessed The First Ride Fra Lippi and Me The Hunter Love? Interruptions to School at Home Author of Hunter's Horn, Mountain Path and other novels, and several historical works concerning Appalachia, Arnow was National Book Award winner in 1955. Although her most famous work, The Dollmaker, has enjoyed much success and was dramatized for television in 1984 with Jane Fonda playing Gertie Nevels, her works have been largely relegated to "regional" literature and subsequently her short stories, up until now, have been hard to find. So it is with special pleasure that we can now trace some of Arnow's evolving artistry and sociopolitical consciousness through these works she left behind.
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