Jack London's Women
Amherst, MA: Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 2002. Paperback, 2013.
This is a complex revisionist biography, based upon newly available source material, and a reinterpretation of some of my previous views. This study includes London's misunderstood mother, Flora Wellman; his African American "foster mother," Virginia Prentiss; Eliza London Shepard, his stepsister; his first wife, Bess Maddern; his major early love, socialist Anna Strunsky; daughters Joan and Becky; and second wife Charmian Kittredge.
These women all shaped London's life in significant ways, yet also were to some extent enthralled by his powerful personality and resources. For some lives, the path was great reward and opportunity, while for others the result was turmoil and tragedy. Regardless, they represent a powerful feminine influence upon London, and their relationships with him reflect the changes in gender expectations of the Progressive era and beyond.
REVIEWS
"Now we are able to see London the patriarch, a significant part of his identity, without having to excuse or cover it up with assertions about the greatness of his art....This book is a masterpiece of archival research. It is invaluable."
--Jay Williams, editor, Jack London Journal
"Stasz's latest book is a controversial biography that challenges previous assessments and perceptions of London and the women who loved, nurtured, and inspired him...Of particular note is the attention given to the struggles of the women to carve out spaces and identities of their own in an often hostile patriarchal society. The author points out that there has been a tendency by biographers to demonize Flora Wellman and Bessie Maddern, two essential women in London's life while he was struggling to become a writer. Wellman, London's biological mother, is presented by Stasz as unswervingly devoted to her son before their fallout. Some previous biographies had depicted her as an uncaring social climber when, in fact, the author argues, Wellman was deeply committed to supporting her son's ambition to become a writer. Stasz's portrait of Wellman rescues her from obscurity, and she becomes the mode exemplar for the other women in the book when the author notes, "[s]o many misunderstood this woman, so radical for her day, so passed over in the circumstances of history and the fame of her son."."
--Peter R. Saiz, Modern Fiction Studies.
https://bookshop.org/shop/stasz
Amherst, MA: Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 2002. Paperback, 2013.
This is a complex revisionist biography, based upon newly available source material, and a reinterpretation of some of my previous views. This study includes London's misunderstood mother, Flora Wellman; his African American "foster mother," Virginia Prentiss; Eliza London Shepard, his stepsister; his first wife, Bess Maddern; his major early love, socialist Anna Strunsky; daughters Joan and Becky; and second wife Charmian Kittredge.
These women all shaped London's life in significant ways, yet also were to some extent enthralled by his powerful personality and resources. For some lives, the path was great reward and opportunity, while for others the result was turmoil and tragedy. Regardless, they represent a powerful feminine influence upon London, and their relationships with him reflect the changes in gender expectations of the Progressive era and beyond.
REVIEWS
"Now we are able to see London the patriarch, a significant part of his identity, without having to excuse or cover it up with assertions about the greatness of his art....This book is a masterpiece of archival research. It is invaluable."
--Jay Williams, editor, Jack London Journal
"Stasz's latest book is a controversial biography that challenges previous assessments and perceptions of London and the women who loved, nurtured, and inspired him...Of particular note is the attention given to the struggles of the women to carve out spaces and identities of their own in an often hostile patriarchal society. The author points out that there has been a tendency by biographers to demonize Flora Wellman and Bessie Maddern, two essential women in London's life while he was struggling to become a writer. Wellman, London's biological mother, is presented by Stasz as unswervingly devoted to her son before their fallout. Some previous biographies had depicted her as an uncaring social climber when, in fact, the author argues, Wellman was deeply committed to supporting her son's ambition to become a writer. Stasz's portrait of Wellman rescues her from obscurity, and she becomes the mode exemplar for the other women in the book when the author notes, "[s]o many misunderstood this woman, so radical for her day, so passed over in the circumstances of history and the fame of her son."."
--Peter R. Saiz, Modern Fiction Studies.
https://bookshop.org/shop/stasz