The Dwelling-Place of Light [Paperback]

Winston Churchill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2005

There was an element of selfishness in Hannah's mania for keeping busy, for doing all their housework and cooking herself. She could not bear to have her daughters interfere; perhaps she did not want to give herself time to think. -from The Dwelling-Place of Light At the turn of the 20th century, Winston Churchill was the most popular novelist in the United States, the J.K Rowling of his day-his second novel, Richard Carvel, sold a phenomenal two million copies, and his extraordinary fame forced the British Winston Churchill-the future prime minister whom we associate with the name today-to use his middle name to avoid confusion with his American counterpart. From his early historical romances, Churchill moved on to political and social fiction. The Dwelling-Place of Light, published in 1917, centers on labor unrest in a Massachusetts mill town. Strikingly realistic, the novel does not shy from harsh depictions of the poor working conditions in the mill, nor of the violent tenor of the workers' anger. And Churchill's shrewd eye observes domestic matters as well, with his astute dramatizations of romance and married life. American novelist WINSTON CHURCHILL (1871-1947) was born in St. Louis, educated at Annapolis, and served in the U.S. Navy. His works include Richard Carvel (1899), The Crisis (1901), and The Inside of the Cup (1913). His later fiction reflected his interest in social issues, and he was active in New Hampshire state politics, serving as a legislator and running an unsuccessful campaign for governor.

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About the Author

American novelist WINSTON CHURCHILL (1871-1947) was born in St. Louis, educated at Annapolis, and served in the U.S. Navy. His works include Richard Carvel (1899), The Crisis (1901), and The Inside of the Cup (1913). His later fiction reflected his interest in social issues, and he was active in New Hampshire state politics, serving as a legislator and running an unsuccessful campaign for governor.

Product Details

• Paperback: 420 pages
• Publisher: Cosimo Classics (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596053089
• ISBN-13: 978-1596053083
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Forward looking at first, but then retreats into old-fashioned solutions, August 25, 2006

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Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dwelling Place of Light (Paperback)

Through the first half of this novel it looks as if American novelist Winston Churchill might be plowing new ground: a naturalistic approach to major public and private issues, including the rights of workers, the role of unions, female victimhood at the hands of powerful men, pre-marital sex, even abortion. But halfway through he seems to lose his nerve and reverts back to older, genteel, idealistic solutions to the problems he raises.

The main plot thread is concerned with Janet Bumpus, who takes a job as secretary to Claude Ditmar, an agent for the Chippering Mills. Ditmar falls in love with her and seduces her at a hotel in Boston. Right afterward it's as if she sees him for what he is for the first time, and disagrees with his business practices, siding with the downtrodden workers when they go on strike. Dumping Ditmar, Janet next becomes interested in a radical intellectual, Leonard Rolfe. But when she learns that free love is part of his radical beliefs, she quickly takes her leave of him. She then meets Brooks Insall, an idealistic writer who sympathizes with the proletarian cause but sees himself as too far above it to get involved personally, except through his writings done in his safe ivory tower (these types are still too much with us today, unfortunately).

Here is where Churchill's book really begins to crumble to dust and ashes. Just before meeting Insall, Janet realizes she's pregnant with Ditmar's child. Insall loves her and wants to marry her anyway, but she comes to the conclusion he's only being generous and she refuses him. She also now believes that Ditmar really loved her (and she him), but when she seeks him out, she learns he is dead. She decides to go away to northern Maine to have the child and leave it to Insall (and his mother) to raise - all very convenient because she "knows" she's going to die anyway, and she does. "Modern" issues (at least this personal dilemma faced by Janet; the problem with the unions and the workers is pretty much dropped altogether) are therefore dealt with the only way Churchill knew how - in the 19th-century "proper" and idealistic way you might expect from such lesser "romantic-realistic" writers as Marion Crawford, Margaret Deland, or F. Constance Woolson (and never from someone like Dreiser, whom he seemed to be imitating at the beginning).

A second plot thread involves Janet's sister Lise, who falls faster and harder than Janet, ending up in prostitution, though her purpose seems to be more a mirror that Janet can hold up to measure her own life against, which allows her to make the decisions she does near the end. The scenes dealing with Lise is Churchill at his most naturalistic - and modern. But it's as if Churchill knew he hadn't it within him to continue in this vein, thus the regression to "safer" ground at the end. This was his last novel; one wonders if he felt he was loosing touch with mainstream trends in America and thus quit trying to depict it in fiction. It was probably a wise decision: it's hard to imagine how poorly a new novel of his might've been received in the age of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Lewis.