Janet Lewis (1) (1899–1998)
Author of The Wife of Martin Guerre
For other authors named Janet Lewis, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Janet Lewis was a novelist, poet, and short-story writer whose literary career spanned almost the entire twentieth century. The New York Times has praised her novels as "some of the 20th century's most vividly imagined and finely wrought literature." Born and educated in Chicago, she lived in show more California for most of her adult life and taught at both Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley. Among her other works are The Trial of Sren Qvist (1947), The Ghost of Monsieur Scarron (1959), Good-Bye, Son and Other Stories (1946), and Poems Old and New (1982). show less
Image credit: Sélection du Reader's Digest
Works by Janet Lewis
The Earth-Bound, 1924-1944 1 copy
Lewis, Janet Archive 1 copy
Poems, 1924-1944 1 copy
The Invention of the flute 1 copy
The Dear Past & Other Poems 1 copy
Associated Works
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2000) — Contributor — 1,471 copies, 9 reviews
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 1,012 copies, 7 reviews
American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, Volume Two: E. E. Cummings to May Swenson (2000) — Contributor — 442 copies, 1 review
Sisters of the Earth: Women's Prose and Poetry About Nature (1991) — Contributor — 441 copies, 5 reviews
Rediscoveries II: Important Writers Select Their Favorite Works of Neglected Fiction (1988) — Contributor — 31 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Lewis, Janet Loxley
- Birthdate
- 1899-08-17
- Date of death
- 1998-12-01
- Gender
- female
- Education
- University of Chicago
- Occupations
- poet
novelist
professor
librettist
historical novelist
short story writer - Organizations
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Awards and honors
- Shelley Memorial Award (1947/1948)
Guggenheim Fellowship (1950 - 51)
Robert Kirsch Award (1985) - Relationships
- Winters, Yvor (husband)
- Short biography
- Janet Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her father taught college-level English and she credited him with being the first to teach her the rudiments of good prose and poetic style. Her first ambition was to be a poet. She graduated from the University of Chicago, where she was a member of the Poetry Club and a literary circle that included Glenway Wescott, Elizabeth Madox Roberts, and her future husband Yvor Winters. She taught at both Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley.
Her first published collection of poems was The Indians in the Woods (1922), inspired by her childhood fascination with Native Americans. Further collections included The Wheel in Midsummer (1927), Janet and Deloss: Poems and Pictures (1990), and Poems Old and New, 1918–1978 (1981). Her debut novel, The Invasion: A Narrative of Events Concerning the Johnston Family of St. Mary’s, was published in 1932. She wrote several historical novels set in Europe, including The Wife of Martin Guerre (1941), The Trial of Soren Qvist (1947), and The Ghost of Monsieur Scarron (1959). She also wrote short fiction, collected in Good-bye, Son, and Other Stories (1946). She wrote six librettos for operas, and several song texts, some in collaboration with composer Alva Henderson.
She married Yvor Winters in 1926, and together they founded Gyroscope, a literary magazine that published from 1929 until 1931.
She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Places of residence
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Place of death
- Los Altos, California, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Illinois, USA
Members
Reviews
I read this novel years ago for school, but I was clicking around Goodreads randomly and I realised that, for some bizarre reason, this book has a lot of positive reviews, so I thought I'd try to counterbalance that a little.
This book made me really angry. For a start, it's just so boring -- you'd think it'd be easy to avoid putting too much padding in a 109-page novella, but no, this book will do such things as devote an entire page to describing a tree, and honestly, I do not care about show more trees that much. So. That happens.
But worse, I despised the plot. Basically what happens is this: a woman in sixteenth-century France marries this man, Martin Guerre, who is abusive and generally a despicable person. At some point he up and leaves her, which would seem to me to be the highlight of their entire marriage, except for the part where this leaves her in a precarious position in sixteenth-century France. Eight years later, Martin Guerre finally deigns to return, only now he's much kinder and warmer, a really nice guy, someone it wouldn't be hell on earth to live with. This means Bertrande (the woman) becomes convinced that he's not really Martin Guerre at all, but an impostor. Most of the rest of the book is then about her struggle to make everyone else realise he's an impostor, even though he's clearly a vast improvement on the man she was married to before, so I personally would be very inclined to bury my doubts.
Then at the end he's proved to be an impostor because the real Martin Guerre actually returns, and promptly abuses Bertrande anew to thank her for making the impostor's life as hard as possible in spite of what a great guy he was. Oh sorry, I mean for "cheating" on him. Because he was definitely entitled to her loyalty after being abusive and abandoning her, after all.
I mean, I do hate novels where characters seem anachronistic, and my teacher at the time gave me a lecture about how I just didn't understand how deep the fear of hell ran in Bertrande's time. But quite honestly, I think this depth of fear of hell would have been equally unusual in Bertrande's time as ours. In the last millennium, Europe has been full of people who had affairs or even, god forbid, sex before marriage - and this is a guy who could quite easily have been Bertrande's true husband, just a bit more mature and with an actual conscience. So fine, Bertrande is part of that small minority of people who actually think remaining loyal to an abusive husband is better than the possibility of eternal damnation. This is not really a segment of society I care to read about. Each to their own, though. show less
This book made me really angry. For a start, it's just so boring -- you'd think it'd be easy to avoid putting too much padding in a 109-page novella, but no, this book will do such things as devote an entire page to describing a tree, and honestly, I do not care about show more trees that much. So. That happens.
But worse, I despised the plot. Basically what happens is this: a woman in sixteenth-century France marries this man, Martin Guerre, who is abusive and generally a despicable person. At some point he up and leaves her, which would seem to me to be the highlight of their entire marriage, except for the part where this leaves her in a precarious position in sixteenth-century France. Eight years later, Martin Guerre finally deigns to return, only now he's much kinder and warmer, a really nice guy, someone it wouldn't be hell on earth to live with. This means Bertrande (the woman) becomes convinced that he's not really Martin Guerre at all, but an impostor. Most of the rest of the book is then about her struggle to make everyone else realise he's an impostor, even though he's clearly a vast improvement on the man she was married to before, so I personally would be very inclined to bury my doubts.
I mean, I do hate novels where characters seem anachronistic, and my teacher at the time gave me a lecture about how I just didn't understand how deep the fear of hell ran in Bertrande's time. But quite honestly, I think this depth of fear of hell would have been equally unusual in Bertrande's time as ours. In the last millennium, Europe has been full of people who had affairs or even, god forbid, sex before marriage - and this is a guy who could quite easily have been Bertrande's true husband, just a bit more mature and with an actual conscience. So fine, Bertrande is part of that small minority of people who actually think remaining loyal to an abusive husband is better than the possibility of eternal damnation. This is not really a segment of society I care to read about. Each to their own, though. show less
True Story, Fictionalised
“A stranger… then her loved husband, then a man who might have been Martin’s ancestor but not young Martin Guerre.”
This novella was written by an American novelist and published in 1941. It is based on a startling court case in 16th century France, that has been told and adapted many times since, including the 1993 film starring Jodie Foster and Richard Gere, Sommersby, which set it in the US Civil War. A decade earlier, Gerard Depardieu starred in Le retour show more de Martin Guerre. It's quite fun to watch them back to back (though it's many years since I did).
Martin and Bertrande are married young. Shortly after their son, Sanxi, is born, Martin goes away to avoid a dispute with his father, telling Bertrande he will be back in a week or so. Years pass. Martin returns, a changed man – changed for the better. Everyone recognises him, even the animals, but he’s kinder, wiser, gentler. Everyone loves him, including Bertrande - more than ever. Another child is born, and Bertrande begins to fear he is an imposter, and thus that she is an adulteress, destined for eternal damnation. She’s not certain. She questions her sanity: “It was like the shadow of a dark wing sweeping suddenly across the room, and then departing swiftly.”
For a while, she puts her fears to one side, regarding them as delusions, “it lent a strange savour to her passion for him”. For a while.
What Would You Do?
The story is about truth, identity, and loyalty. There is courtroom drama. But the real interest is whether and why someone could get away with such a deceit, and if so, why others might go along with it. If there’s the death penalty in this life and you believe in hellfire in the next, matters are even more complex.
Even if she were certain the man is an imposter, what to do, given that she has a child by each man, has come to love the new Martin, and that the estate and all its servants and workers depend on him?
There is no right answer.
Time and Place
Lewis weaves a lush tapestry of the life, beliefs, and customs of “rich peasant families” in mid the 1500s, along with the scenery and seasonal cycles of the Pyrenees and Basque country. The language is slightly old-fashioned, without being obscure.
Quotes
• “His presence should testify for her that the beasts were safe, that the grain was safe… the family was safe… and therefore the whole world was safe and as it should be.”
• “Bertrande was aware of no other sentiment for her husband than a mild gratitude for his leaving her alone.”
• “Gradually Bertrande’s affection for her husband became a deep and joyous passion, growing slowly and naturally as her body grew.”
• “His ugliness was ancestral, and that in itself was good.”
• “He had deserted her in the full beauty of her youth, in the height of her great passion, he had shamed her and wounded her.”
• “The displeasure of Monsieur Guerre had become as necessary and inevitable part of his character as his spine was of his body. When he entered a room that displeasure entered with him.”
• “The more she strove to recollect his appearance, the vaguer grew her memory.”
• “Her sorrow and her new sense of responsibility ennobled her physical charm.”
• “He attached himself to his father’s person, like a small dog who does not mind whether he is noticed or not, provided he is permitted to be present.”
• “The very walls of the kitchen were animated and seemed to tremble in the ruddy glow from the chimney. The copper vessels winked and blazed. The glazed pottery on the dresser also gave back the quivering light, and his father’s armour… was momentarily like the sky of an autumn sunset.”
• “I see the flesh and bones of Martin Guerre, but in them I see dwelling the spirit of another man.”
• “The air alternately misted, showered, and shone in confusing variability.”
• “Bertrande awoke unrefreshed, and felt in the air, as in her mind, the sultriness which paralleled the sullen temper of the men… the evening before.”
See also
• Rebecca West's The Return of the Soldier is an entirely fictional novel that also explores the consequences of a returning soldier. See my 4* review HERE.
• The Return of Martin Guerre - non-fiction that inspired Janet Lewis. show less
“A stranger… then her loved husband, then a man who might have been Martin’s ancestor but not young Martin Guerre.”
This novella was written by an American novelist and published in 1941. It is based on a startling court case in 16th century France, that has been told and adapted many times since, including the 1993 film starring Jodie Foster and Richard Gere, Sommersby, which set it in the US Civil War. A decade earlier, Gerard Depardieu starred in Le retour show more de Martin Guerre. It's quite fun to watch them back to back (though it's many years since I did).
Martin and Bertrande are married young. Shortly after their son, Sanxi, is born, Martin goes away to avoid a dispute with his father, telling Bertrande he will be back in a week or so. Years pass. Martin returns, a changed man – changed for the better. Everyone recognises him, even the animals, but he’s kinder, wiser, gentler. Everyone loves him, including Bertrande - more than ever. Another child is born, and Bertrande begins to fear he is an imposter, and thus that she is an adulteress, destined for eternal damnation. She’s not certain. She questions her sanity: “It was like the shadow of a dark wing sweeping suddenly across the room, and then departing swiftly.”
For a while, she puts her fears to one side, regarding them as delusions, “it lent a strange savour to her passion for him”. For a while.
What Would You Do?
The story is about truth, identity, and loyalty. There is courtroom drama. But the real interest is whether and why someone could get away with such a deceit, and if so, why others might go along with it. If there’s the death penalty in this life and you believe in hellfire in the next, matters are even more complex.
Even if she were certain the man is an imposter, what to do, given that she has a child by each man, has come to love the new Martin, and that the estate and all its servants and workers depend on him?
There is no right answer.
Time and Place
Lewis weaves a lush tapestry of the life, beliefs, and customs of “rich peasant families” in mid the 1500s, along with the scenery and seasonal cycles of the Pyrenees and Basque country. The language is slightly old-fashioned, without being obscure.
Quotes
• “His presence should testify for her that the beasts were safe, that the grain was safe… the family was safe… and therefore the whole world was safe and as it should be.”
• “Bertrande was aware of no other sentiment for her husband than a mild gratitude for his leaving her alone.”
• “Gradually Bertrande’s affection for her husband became a deep and joyous passion, growing slowly and naturally as her body grew.”
• “His ugliness was ancestral, and that in itself was good.”
• “He had deserted her in the full beauty of her youth, in the height of her great passion, he had shamed her and wounded her.”
• “The displeasure of Monsieur Guerre had become as necessary and inevitable part of his character as his spine was of his body. When he entered a room that displeasure entered with him.”
• “The more she strove to recollect his appearance, the vaguer grew her memory.”
• “Her sorrow and her new sense of responsibility ennobled her physical charm.”
• “He attached himself to his father’s person, like a small dog who does not mind whether he is noticed or not, provided he is permitted to be present.”
• “The very walls of the kitchen were animated and seemed to tremble in the ruddy glow from the chimney. The copper vessels winked and blazed. The glazed pottery on the dresser also gave back the quivering light, and his father’s armour… was momentarily like the sky of an autumn sunset.”
• “I see the flesh and bones of Martin Guerre, but in them I see dwelling the spirit of another man.”
• “The air alternately misted, showered, and shone in confusing variability.”
• “Bertrande awoke unrefreshed, and felt in the air, as in her mind, the sultriness which paralleled the sullen temper of the men… the evening before.”
See also
• Rebecca West's The Return of the Soldier is an entirely fictional novel that also explores the consequences of a returning soldier. See my 4* review HERE.
• The Return of Martin Guerre - non-fiction that inspired Janet Lewis. show less
this is a book of very beautiful and clear descriptions of scene and character. The plot is rife with question of good and evil and justice,.
Janet Lewis' short novel The Wife of Martin Guerre examines this classic case of circumstantial evidence, telling the story mainly through the perspective of Guerre's wife, Bertrande de Rols. A readable and lyrical adaptation of the tale, with all its twists, turns, and surprises. Lewis delves deeply into Bertrande's frame of mind as she ultimately concludes that she must confront the man purporting to be her husband, and the powerful ending really speaks to the all-important question of show more truth versus justice.
http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2010/03/book-review-wife-of-martin-guerre.html show less
http://philobiblos.blogspot.com/2010/03/book-review-wife-of-martin-guerre.html show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 23
- Also by
- 5
- Members
- 598
- Popularity
- #42,015
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 14
- ISBNs
- 59
- Languages
- 6