Constance Fenimore Woolson (1840–1894), who contributed to Henry James’s conception of his heroine Isabelle Archer of The Portrait of a Lady, was one of the most accomplished American writers of the nineteenth century. The best known (and most misunderstood) facts of her life are her relationship with James and her suicide in Venice. Uncovering new sources, Anne Boyd Rioux provides a fuller picture of Woolson’s life, her fight against depression, her sources for her writing and her capacity for love and joy.
As an expatriate in Europe, Woolson explored women’s thwarted ambitions while challenging the foremost male writers of her era. Rioux reveals an exceptional artist who pursued and received serious recognition despite the stigma attached to female authors.
- ISBN10 0393245098
- ISBN13 9780393245097
- Publish Date 22 March 2016 (first published 29 February 2016)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint WW Norton & Co
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 416
- Language English