Marietta Holley (1836–1926)
Author of Samantha at Saratoga; or, Racin' After Fashion
About the Author
Image credit: Marietta Holley [aka Josiah Allen's Wife] (1836-1926), Buffalo Electrotype and Engraving Co., Buffalo, N.Y.
Series
Works by Marietta Holley
Associated Works
Women in the Trees: U.S. Women's Short Stories About Battering and Resistance, 1839-1994 (1996) — Contributor — 45 copies
The Tavern Lamps Are Burning: Literary Journeys through Six Regions and Four Centuries of New York State (1964) — Contributor — 25 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Holley, Marietta
- Other names
- Jemyma (pen name)
Josiah Allen's Wife (pen name) - Birthdate
- 1836-07-16
- Date of death
- 1926-03-01
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- humorist
satirist - Short biography
- Marietta Holley was born on the family farm in Jefferson County, New York. Her formal education ended at age 14 as she had to work to help support the family. She began her literary career writing for newspapers and women’s magazines. In 1873, she published her first book, My Opinions and Betsy Bobbet’s, and subsequently published 20 more books featuring her trademark humor and wit. She used satire to express her strong feminist views, often criticizing the double standard for men and women, as well as criticizing the exploitation of workers and racism. Although forgotten today, Holley was called the "female Mark Twain" in her own day and sold more copies of her books than Twain did.
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Ellisburg, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Jefferson County, New York, USA
- Place of death
- Ellisburg, New York, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- New York, USA
Members
Reviews
It saddens me to see that Marietta Holley's books have lost popularity today, though in her time she was quite the famous writer. I started reading this book after I catalogued it for LT -- I kept reading brief snippets that made me laugh out loud. She gets a bit preachy at time, but is without doubt a brilliant writer. The character which she assumes is an uneducated woman, but Holley is the opposite. Her word play is ingenious and invigorates stuffy English (ex: "...all Mr. Abraham had to show more do wuz to gird up his lions. This is what it sez. And I don't believe it would take much time to gird up a few lions, it don't seem to me as if it would." AND "It wuz a fair seen, seen for a moment..."). In addition, she is fabulously feminist in a time when women still had little power. Her brief discourse on the torture of the corset was a delight, and her interactions with her husband (another rather amusing character, though in a different vein from Samantha) prove her capability and intelligence. I'm looking forward to reading several more of Holley's books. show less
This lovely book was written about a topic dear to my heart - St. Louis, Missouri. It was quaint and fascinating at the same time, As Holley wrote from the narrator’s point of view in the narrator’s vernacular. Samantha is a woman from a small mid-western town in 1904, and her speech is full of colloquialisms and “country” feeling. It felt as if I had a real glimpse of that time and of that fair. Many parts of Samantha’s descriptions were long lists of the amazing sights and show more details of the fair. It truly must have been a magnificent display. show less
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 22
- Also by
- 4
- Members
- 309
- Popularity
- #76,231
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 2
- ISBNs
- 108
- Favorited
- 1