Keeping Secrets [Hardcover]

Mary E. Lyons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 1995

The Girlhood Diaries Of Seven Nineteenth-Century Women Writers

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 7^-12. In the style of Boas' We Are Witnesses: The Diaries of Five Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust , Lyons weaves her own commentary and analysis with quotes from the girlhood diaries of seven nineteenth-century women writers: Louisa May Alcott, Charlotte Forten, Sarah Jane Foster, Kate Chopin, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Ida B. Wells, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. A center inset includes one small photo of each of the seven. Lyons writes with style and feeling, creating a strong sense of each individual life story, even as she gives us a social history of what it was like to be a woman at that time. We see young people caught between public docility and private anger. Lyons is admiring without being adulatory; for example, she laments Alcott's narrow vision ("she could have been much more" ) and wishes that Forten had gone beyond the "19th century woman's garden--marriage, motherhood, and religion." Lyons shows that the very act of keeping a diary helped these women take risks and explore dangerous feelings until each was able to find a voice of her own. Any teen who keeps a journal will recognize what the title implies: the private world behind the mask of duty. Notes; bibliography. Hazel Rochman

Review

"A collection of seven literary biographies liberally sprinkled with brief quotations from the subjects’ diaries, written when they were young adults." --School Library Journal, starred review

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (May 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805030654
• ISBN-13: 978-0805030655
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,312,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeping Secrets : The Girlhood Diaries of Seven Women Writer, May 8, 2000

By 

Beatrice - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keeping Secrets (Hardcover)

This book is about the diaries of 7 famous women writers- Louisa May Alcott, Charlotte Forten, Sarah Jane Foster, Kate Chopin, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Ida B. Wells and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It includes extracts from diaries, photographs, descriptions about their lives, thoughts and struggles with love, relationships and discrimination. It goes deep into their minds and shares the feelings of these great writers. It's a great book for women to read. You may find a reflection of yourself.