30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Not-So-Unlikely Abolitionist, August 31, 2000
This review is from: Fanny Kemble's Civil Wars (Hardcover)
In 1836, just two years after famed British actress Fanny Kemble married Pierce Butler, he inherited the second largest plantation in Georgia. Her memoir of planter-society life, published in 1863 as Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation, provided, according to Author Catherine Clinton, "a disquieting glimpse into the world the slaveholders made." Clinton holds the Ph.D. in history from Princeton University, and she has taught at several colleges and universities including Brandeis, Brown, and Harvard. She is widely regarded as one of the preeminent historians of the antebellum south and of American women in the 19th century, and her expertise and erudition come through on every page of this fascinating book. In the interest of fairness, I must disclose that Clinton and I were college classmates, and I took several courses with her. She was a brilliant student, and her success as a professional historian was predestined.
Kemble belonged to a family of prominent British Shakespearean actors, and her earliest fame came as the title heroine in Romeo and Julie and in performances in other classics in London beginning in 1829, when she was only 19. In 1832, she arrived in the United States for a two-year theatrical tour. We are, however, primarily interested in Kemble's life after her 1834 marriage to Pierce Butler, who inherited the plantations on Georgia's Sea Islands in 1836. Kemble and Butler lived for their first years together in Philadelphia, but Butler tenaciously held onto extreme social attitudes. In Southern antebellum culture, according to Clinton, "the white male patriarch ruled unchallenged, and "Fanny could best demonstrate her loyalty, Butler maintained, by agreeing with him in every regard." That was virtually impossible for the spirited Kemble, who found her husband to be "rude and unkind" and his mental faculties "lackluster." In contrast, the portraits of Kemble in this book show her to be a woman of obvious intelligence and seriousness of purpose. The Butler-Kemble union failed from the beginning and, in 1835, according to Clinton, Kemble expressed willingness to give Butler custody of their infant daughter if he would allow her to leave. Butler rejected the idea, and Kemble remained miserable until their divorce in 1849.
From an early age, Kemble had imagined herself to be a "literary lioness," and, in despair, she turned to writing. In the spring of 1835, Kemble wrote a "long and vehement treatise against negro slavery." According to Clinton, Kemble was "[a]lways given to social commentary with a theatrical flair." Clinton observes that "Kemble's vivid writings [are] replete with insights on women's rights, slavery, and race," and they offer valuable insights into the realities of plantation life. But Clinton notes that "[a]s Mrs. Pierce Butler, the wife of the second largest slaveholder in Georgia," Kemble "found herself in a precarious position." The peculiar institution afforded her a life of leisure, but, according to Clinton, she "found herself increasingly drawn to the plight of the slaves." After arriving in Georgia in 1838, Kemble established a slave hospital and a slave nursery, and, in defiance of state law, she taught the alphabet to a bright slave. It was not until 1863, however, that Kemble consented to the publication of Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation, which Clinton describes as "the vivid and haunting diatribe against human bondage composed during her stay on the Butler plantations in the winter of 1838-39." According to Clinton: "Fanny Kemble...characterized Butler as a despot; Butler's friends portrayed him as a peerless master. The truth lay somewhere in between." A review in the Atlantic Monthly called Kemble's Journal "the first ample, lucid, faithful, detailed account, from the actual head-quarters of a slave plantation in this country, of the workings of the system." Horace Greeley's Tribune also had high praise for Kemble's Journal. But Kemble's younger daughter, who supported the Confederate States during the Civil War, wrote in 1881 that "nothing would ever induce me to have [the Georgia Journal] in my house....I never can forgive it." According to Clinton: "One intimate of both women complained that Fanny Kemble thought all the South's problems stemmed from slavery, while [the younger daughter] believed all the problems of the South were created by African Americans." Clinton remarks that "the book has more greatly influenced twentieth-century historians than Civil War-era politicians," and she notes that, beginning in the 1950s, slavery scholars began citing Kemble as an authority.
Clinton makes extensive use of Kemble's memoirs and correspondence, but I was a bit surprised that Clinton did not quote more extensively from the Georgia Journal in this book. Clinton may have hoped to inspire readers to delve more deeply into Kemble's impressive oeuvre in the original, including Fanny Kemble's Journals, edited by Clinton and published earlier this year by Harvard University Press. That book offers selections from Kemble's 11 volumes of autobiographical writings and is, I suspect, fascinating. I do not understand precisely why this book is subtitled "The Story of America's Most Unlikely Abolitionist." Early in the book, Clinton writes that Kemble developed a "renowned affinity for `plain folk,' and she clearly had a gift for social commentary. So, her marriage to a wealthy planter notwithstanding, I do not find it surprising that Kemble took a public position on the most serious question in mid-19th century America. But I consider this point a quibble: Despite the subtitle, this book is wonderful. Although generally devoted to significant political and social questions, cameo appearances by Kemble's circle of noteworthy friends and acquaintances, including Washington Irving, Louis Agassiz, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Henry James, make it fun as well. So does the fact that Kemble's elder daughter married a Pennsylvania physician in 1859, and their son, Owen Wister, Jr., achieved fame in his own right as the author of the novel The Virginian and the commentary for a famous volume of illustrations of Frederic Remington. This biography details a remarkable 19th-century life. I recommend Fanny Kemble's Civil Wars and everything else written by Catherine Clinton without qualification.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Informative, October 19, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Fanny Kemble's Civil Wars (Hardcover)
I checked this book out from the library and read it the week prior to our family's vacation to Charleston, SC. I found it very informative and I enjoyed recognizing the names of families, towns and historical landmarks mentioned in the book, especially St. Simon's Island, which I enjoyed reading about in Eugenia Price's series of books on that particular area. I have a great interest in women's experiences, pre and post-civil war, and would not think twice about adding this book to my ever-growing collection of that era.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You Won't Be Able to Put the Book Down, September 14, 2002
This review is from: Fanny Kemble's Civil Wars (Hardcover)
A combination of excellent writting and the fascinating subject -Fanny Kemble - make this a book you'll find difficult to put down. After reading this book, I, too, long to know more about this charismatic woman. Regardless of whether or not your interests lie in learning more about women during the Civil War, Fanny Kemble's life and times is a thoroughly compelling story.
I originally saw Catherine Clinton on C-Span Book TV (yes, I admit I do watch it! LOL). Her enthusiasm regarding Fanny Kemble was clearly evident and the book does not disappoint. I do want to point out that I've chosen to read Clinton's book before I've read the journals which she edited.
With respect to Fanny Kemble, I find her to be a study in contrast. On the one hand she craved independence of thought and financial means yet she appears to have despised the very things that would bring her either independence, financial security or both. For example, she clearly was an excellent performer - something which would have allowed her independence of both thought and financial security - yet it appears she in many instances indicates she disliked performing.
After reading Catherine Clinton's book, I can't help but wonder what the literary world lost when she married Pierce Butler. Would we have another Jane Austen if she had remained unmarried or if she had a supportive or better match for a husband? Unfortunately, we're only left to guess.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
