The Whole Family: A Novel
by William Dean Howells
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The collaborative efforts of twelve different authors writing a chapter each, The Whole Family is a 1908 novel conceived of by writer William Dean Howells and directed by Elizabeth Jordan, the editor Harper's Bazaar at the time. Howells' wished to explore how an entire family might both affect and be affected by a marriage. The narrative became somewhat of a mirror for the at-times contentious relationships between its various authors. The chapters and their authors are:The Father by show more William Dean Howells
The Old-Maid Aunt by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
The Grandmother by Mary Heaton Vorse
The Daughter-in-Law by Mary Stewart Cutting
The School-Girl by Elizabeth Jordan
The Son-in-Law by John Kendrick Bangs
The Married Son by Henry James
The Married Daughter by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
The Mother by Edith Wyatt
The School-Boy by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews
Peggy by Alice Brown
The Friend of the Family by Henry Van Dyke
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If you're a big fan of 19th century American writers then this book is for you. Each chapter is written by a different author -- Henry James, William Dean Howells, Mary Wilkins Freeman, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, to name a few. The story the writers collaboratively tell is a typical, 19th century, family-centered marriage plot. But as you read on, you realize the story is about fiction itself -- what is acceptable & what must be suppressed. The way some writers craft their chapters in response to previous ones becomes an absorbing plot in itself. I'd wholeheartedly recommend this to hardcore fans of the era and/or genre.
This very amusing book was a project of W.D. Howells who wrote the first chapter and passed it on to 11 of his colleagues (including Henry James,no less).
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240+ Works 5,437 Members
William Dean Howells was born in Martin's Ferry, Ohio on March 1, 1837. He dropped out of school to work as a typesetter and a printer's apprentice. He taught himself through intensive reading and the study of Spanish, French, Latin, and German. He wrote a campaign biography of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Lincoln appointed him U.S. consul in Venice, show more Italy in 1861 as a reward. After returning to the U.S. several years later, he became an assistant editor for The Atlantic Monthly, later becoming editor from 1871 to 1881. He also wrote columns for Harper's New Monthly Magazine and occasional pieces for The North American Review. As an editor and critic, he was a proponent of American realism. Although he wrote over a 100 books in various genres including novels, poems, literary criticism, plays, memoirs, and travel narratives, he is best known for his realistic fiction. His novels include A Modern Instance, The Rise of Silas Lapham, A Hazard of New Fortunes, The Undiscovered Country, A Chance Acquaintance, An Imperative Duty, Annie Kilburn, and The Coast of Bohemia. He received several honorary degrees from universities as well as a Gold Medal for fiction (later renamed after him as the Howells Medal) from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. He died from pneumonia on May 11, 1920. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- The Whole Family: A Novel
- Original publication date
- 1908
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Statistics
- Members
- 69
- Popularity
- 453,457
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.17)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 20
- ASINs
- 2
