Evening star., 1954-10-31
Books in Review
Autobiography Of Ellen Glasgow
Landmark of American Literature
Reviewed by corter Brooke Jones

Ellen Glasgow died nine
years ago. leaving American
literature a fine heritage, those
novels that depict with wisdom
and irony the transition Of the
South from the Civil War to
the modern era. Although her
reputation spread slowly
through the years, she did live
to see her books collected in
two uniform editions and to
receive awards and honors.
There can be little doubt that
novels like vein Of Iron" and
"The Sheltered Life" and 1.-THE
Romantic Comedians" and
Barren Ground" win be read
for a long time.
But what was Ellen Glas-
gov like? Who was the woman
known to the public only by
the results of a driving crea-
tive energy? In her later, most
productive years she lived al
most a cloistered life in the
old house in Richmond and,
beyond a few intimates, no
one knew much about her.
Well, here at last is her own
account Of her inner life: "The
Woman Within: the Autobio-
graphy of Ellen Glasgow"
CHarcourt. Brace: So.
She did not want this candid
study Of herself published
during her lifetime. She was
bedridden from a heart con-
dition much Of the time dur
ing her last few years. Early
In 1914 she sent for her liter
ary executors. Irita Van Doren
and F. v. Morley. and talked
to them about the autobio-
graphical manuscript, which
was IN q safe deposit vault.
They could publish it, If they
pleased, after her death. Miss
Glasgow called it a rough draft
and said the executors were
free to edit it. They found it
far from that and have edited
1t very little.
Her Seorch for Truth
The woman who emerges
from behind the book was
extremely sensitive, haunted by
q lifelong search for truth.
justice. beauty; tormented by
the tragedies which follow
every person but seem to have
tra1led her with more than
average persistence.
But if Miss Glasgow may
have appeared retiring and
reticent to most people, her
life as a whole was far from
that OF a recluse. She had
many friends. She Travelled
Widely-for years she went to
Europe every summer-but
there were personal shadows
that came between her and the
wider circle of friends she
might have had. One was her
deafness, which slowly grew
worse over the years and con-
corning which she was fanatic
ally sensitive. Another shadow
which tended to shut out the
world came from the griefs,
disappointments and frustra-
tions which bounded her all
her life. In early childhood
she was so fral no one ex-
pected her to live. Her health
was never robust.
She was a young woman in
the 1905 and, judging from
photographs, a most attractive
one. Her first love, unfortun-
ately, was for a married man,
and they saw each other oc- (
casionally for some nine years,
though apparently there was
never any talk of breaking up
his marriage. Twice, in later
years, she was engaged, to men
eminently eligible. but she
never married, partly because
she thought her deafness un-
fitted her.
The Market Was Limited
When she began to write,
she explains, "Southerners did
not publish, did not write, did
not read. Their appetite for
information was gargantuan
but personal; it was either
satisfied by oratory or it was
sated by gossip"
Miss Glasgow mentions her
books, her labor over them and
how they were received, but
she does not go into detail
about her writing. This, she
felt, was covered in "A Ger
tain Measure" book of
anhalgamated prefaces which
dealt with the subject.
Surely" she remarks, "the
novel should be a form of art