Rainy Day Reads

The book: Initially this book was published as a serial in The American Magazine beginning in 1910. Already in 1911 however it was published in book form in both the United States and the UK. The initial publication in the magazine was apparently aimed at adults, and it was not as popular as some of the author’s earlier works. Only after children’s literature in general became popular during the past 50 years or so did it start to receive some notice, and these days it is often considered one of the best children’s classics of the world.  The author: Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett was born in 1849 in England, and after her father died the family emigrated to The United States in 1865, where they settled in Tennessee. When she was 19 Hodgson started publishing stories in magazines in order to help with the bills at home. in 1872 she married and the couple moved to Paris, where they lived for two years. After this they moved back to the states and lived in Washing...

The Book This is Anne Brontë’s debut novel written under the pen name of Acton Bell. It was first published in 1847 and many believe that it depicts Anne’s own experiences as a governess. It deals with themes of oppression, treatment of animals, empathy and isolation, and at least one incident described in the book is based on real events (Agnes killing a nest of birds to prevent them from being tortured by the young boy of the family she is working for).  The Author Anne Brontë was born in 1820 and died in 1849. She was the youngest of the Brontë sisters and lived with her family most of her life. In her early 20s she worked as a governess, but after leaving that profession in 1845 she started writing. She wrote poems, which were published in a volume of poems written by her and her sisters, and she proceeded to write two novels, “Agnes Grey” and “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” before she died. All of these were first published under a pseudonym; Acton Bell. Her sis...

The Book This is not actually a book as such, but a play. It was written in the 1950s and uses the backdrop of the Salem witch trials in the 17th century to highlight the issues of the modern day communist witch hunt during the McCarthy era. The first staging of the play was not all together successful, but it still won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1953, and in a later production the play found its stride and became the classic we know today.  The story of the play is based on real people and real events, but Miller has taken some liberties and fictionalized and changed some things, including changing ages of the people and lumping more people into one character.  The Author Arthur Miller has written a number of plays, many of which are considered modern classics, including “The Crucible”, “Death of a Salesman” and “All My Sons”. He was born in 1915 in New York City and lived to be 89 years of age. He was particularly well known to the public in the 194...