Blood of My Blood - Hardcover

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0813024439 ISBN 13: 9780813024431

Publisher: University Press of Florida, 2002

Synopsis

Written in 1928, the year Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings moved to Cross Creek, her autobiographical first novel, Blood of My Blood, was never published. Its existence was unknown to her contemporaries - including Max Perkins, her editor at Scribner's. Blood of My Blood is a portrait of the young artist very nearly ruined by egotism and through being alternately pushed and spoiled by her mother Ida. It is also a tender tribute to her father Arthur and a moving account of their relationship. But always at the center of the story is the intense love and hate that flamed back and forth between mother and daughter. Blood of My Blood reveals not only the painful process of maturation for a creative but tormented mind but also the steady growth of an artist. There are wonderful descriptions of the natural world, people, objects, and - uniquely for Rawlings - of the big city and city-dwellers. Born in Washington, D.C., and reared there until her graduation from high school in 1914, Rawlings' descriptions of the city are historically charming, and her depiction of the society where class distinctions were shaved wafer thin is remarkable for its pertinence nearly a century later.

About this title

About the Author:

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953) is best known for her Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel The Yearling and her nonfiction narrative Cross Creek, both of which have been made into motion pictures.

From Publishers Weekly:

This unpublished autobiographical first novel, written in 1928 by the author of The Yearling and Cross Creek, presents an illuminating look at the background and maturation of a writer who went on to pen an American classic. The first quarter of the narrative focuses on Rawlings's domineering, ambitious but spiritually empty mother, Ida, who became an overwhelming force in Marjorie's life. Ida's efforts to produce the girl of her dreams lead her to ignore her second child, a son. When Marjorie is in high school, Ida teaches her how to get dates with the most eligible young men. She's a master of stage-mother antics, which begin to backfire when Marjorie belatedly develops an emotional attachment to her father, Arthur, a school principal turned patent lawyer who frustrates Ida by spiriting his family off to a farm in Maryland. Ida's most serious setback takes place when Marjorie's overindulged ego begins to grow exponentially as she approaches college, threatening to overwhelm her budding literary talent. The constant tug of war between mother and daughter reaches its pinnacle when they pay so much attention to social climbing that poor Arthur dies of neglect from a kidney illness. The combination of two distinctly unlikable protagonists (Rawlings doesn't spare readers the uglier aspects of her behavior) and some stilted prose make this a tough read, but glimmers of Rawlings's promising future emerge in the graceful final passages when Marjorie goes off to live her own life after marrying a man her mother hates, and must come to terms with Ida's growing loneliness. Given what Rawlings went on to achieve, this seminal work constitutes a useful document for those interested in delving further into her unusual life. (Feb.)Forecast: A strong library selection and a likely university seller, this novel has historical literary value.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of Florida
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0813024439
• ISBN 13: 9780813024431
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192
• Editor: ANNE BLYTHE MERIWETHER