Fanny Fern: An Independent Woman [Hardcover]

Joyce Warren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1992

Fanny Fern is a name that is unfamiliar to most contemporary readers. In this first modern biography, Warren revives the reputation of a once-popular 19th-century newspaper columnist and novelist. Fern, the pseudonym for Sara Payson Willis Parton, was born in 1811 and grew up in a society with strictly defined gender roles. From her rebellious childhood to her adult years as a newspaper columnist, Fern challenged society's definition of women's place with her life and her words. Fern wrote a weekly newspaper column for 21 years and, using colorful language and satirical style, advocated women's rights and called for social reform. Warren blends Fern's life story with an analysis of the social and literary world of 19th-century America.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Queens College (N.Y.) English faculty member Warren ( The American Narcissus: Individualism and Women in 19th-Century American Ficton ) performs valuable detective work in the field of women's studies by rescuing Fanny Fern (1811-1872) from oblivion. Born Sarah Payson in Portland, Maine, she took on the pseudonym in the 1850s when she became the first female American newspaper columnist. Estranged from an abusive husband and refused financial aid by a father and brother who disapproved of divorce, Fern turned to writing to feed her two children. Her satiric columns, which commented on such issues as women's rights, prostitution and prison conditions, as well as her bestselling novel Ruth Hall , made her a household name. Warren quotes liberally from Fern's columns and fiction in this extensively researched, well-written academic biography. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Fanny Fern is a name that is unfamiliar to most contemporary readers. In this first modern biography, Warren revives the reputation of a once-popular 19th-century newspaper columnist and novelist. Fern, the pseudonym for Sara Payson Willis Parton, was born in 1811 and grew up in a society with strictly defined gender roles. From her rebellious childhood to her adult years as a newspaper columnist, Fern challenged society's definition of women's place with her life and her words. Fern wrote a weekly newspaper column for 21 years and, using colorful language and satirical style, advocated women's rights and called for social reform. Warren blends Fern's life story with an analysis of the social and literary world of 19th-century America. A companion to this biography is Warren's earlier edited volume of Fern's writing, Ruth Hall and Other Writings (Rutgers Univ. Pr., 1986). Recommended for academic and large public libraries.
-Judy Solberg, Univ. of Maryland Libs., College Park
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 396 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press; First Edition edition (March 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081351763X
• ISBN-13: 978-0813517636
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,449,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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