{"product_id":"constance-fenimore-woolson-anne-boyd-rioux-9780393245097","title":"Constance Fenimore Woolson: Portrait of a Lady Novelist","description":"\u003cp\u003eConstance Fenimore Woolson (1840-1894), who contributed to Henry James's conception of his heroine Isabelle Archer in \u003cem\u003eThe Portrait of a Lady\u003c\/em\u003e, was one of the most accomplished American writers of the nineteenth century. Yet today the best-known (and most-misunderstood) facts of her life are her relationship with James and her probable suicide in Venice. This first full-length biography of Woolson provides a fuller picture that reaffirms her literary stature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUncovering new sources, Anne Boyd Rioux evokes Woolson's dramatic life. She was a grand-niece of James Fenimore Cooper and was born in New Hampshire, but her family's ill fortunes drove them west to Cleveland. Raised to be a conventional woman, Woolson was nonetheless thrust by her father's death into the role of breadwinner, and yet, as a writer, she reached for critical as much as monetary reward.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKnown for her powerfully realistic and empathetic portraits of post Civil-War American life, Woolson created compelling and subtle portrayals of the rural Midwest, Reconstruction-era South, and the formerly Spanish Florida, to which she traveled with her invalid mother. After her mother's death, Woolson, with help from her sister, moved to Europe where expenses were lower, living mostly in England and Italy and spending several months in Egypt. While abroad, she wrote finely crafted foreign-set stories that presage Edith Wharton's work of the next generation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this rich biography, Rioux reveals an exceptionally gifted and committed artist who pursued and received serious recognition despite the difficulties faced by female authors of her day. Throughout, Rioux goes deep into Woolson's character, her fight against depression, her sources for writing, and her intimate friendships, including with Henry James, painting an engrossing portrait of a woman and writer who deserves to be more widely known today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Anne Boyd Rioux\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0393245098\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780393245097\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e W. W. Norton \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/29\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.10w x 1.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/15\/2015 pg. 55\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/15\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/09\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/01\/2015 pg. 102\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2016 pg. 18\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/06\/2016 pg. 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew Yorker (The)\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/07\/2016 pg. 69\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/08\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/15\/2015","brand":"Anne Boyd Rioux","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43946576019711,"sku":"9780393245097","price":32.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_2ea26c64-9b43-4928-a423-e8fe83876a9c.jpg?v=1681513935","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/constance-fenimore-woolson-anne-boyd-rioux-9780393245097","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}