Elizabeth Frances Corbett (1887–1981)
Forfatter af The Young Mrs. Meigs
Om forfatteren
Serier
Værker af Elizabeth Frances Corbett
The richer harvest 4 eksemplarer
After five o'clock, 3 eksemplarer
Hotel Belvedere; a novel 3 eksemplarer
In Miss Armstrong's Room 3 eksemplarer
The Red Haired Lady 3 eksemplarer
Professor Preston at home 3 eksemplarer
Walt; The Good Gray Poet Speaks for Himself 2 eksemplarer
The Graper Girls 2 eksemplarer
Hidden island 2 eksemplarer
The queen's holiday 2 eksemplarer
Excuse Me, Mrs. Meigs 2 eksemplarer
Light of other days, a novel of Mount Royal 2 eksemplarer
The crossroads 2 eksemplarer
Mr. Underhill's progress, 2 eksemplarer
The vanished Helga 1 eksemplar
Light of Other Days 1 eksemplar
Mr. and Mrs. Meigs 1 eksemplar
Beth and Ernestine Graper 1 eksemplar
Growing Up With the Grapers 1 eksemplar
The Graper Girls Go to College 1 eksemplar
Early summer, 1 eksemplar
Faye's Folly 1 eksemplar
Lady with parasol 1 eksemplar
Anniversary, a novel 1 eksemplar
Ladies' day, a novel 1 eksemplar
Portrait of Isabelle 1 eksemplar
Eve and Christopher 1 eksemplar
The Continuing City 1 eksemplar
The Wainwright inheritance 1 eksemplar
Immortal Helen, a novel 1 eksemplar
The house across the river 1 eksemplar
The Duke's daughter 1 eksemplar
The head of Apollo 1 eksemplar
Hamilton Terrace 1 eksemplar
The far down 1 eksemplar
The constant sex 1 eksemplar
Golden grain 1 eksemplar
Associated Works
In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers, 1850-1917 (2018) — Bidragyder — 89 eksemplarer
Satte nøgleord på
Almen Viden
- Fødselsdato
- 1887-09-30
- Dødsdag
- 1981-01-24
- Køn
- female
- Nationalitet
- USA
- Fødested
- Aurora, Illinois, USA
- Bopæl
- New York, New York, USA
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA - Uddannelse
- University of Wisconsin
- Erhverv
- novelist
short story writer
playwright
biographer
poet - Kort biografi
- Elizabeth Corbett wrote romantic and historical novels aimed at children and young women, described once as "nice novels about nice people." She was the oldest of three children of Richard W. Corbett and Isabelle Adkins, and grew up living at the Northwestern Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Milwaukee, among veterans of the Civil War. She attended West Division High School and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1910. She wrote and published her first three novels in Milwaukee and then moved to Greenwich Village in New York City to pursue her literary career. She produced about 50 books, some of them extremely popular, including several revolving around a woman named Mrs. Meigs. She also wrote poems and short stories that appeared in Century, Scribner’s, McCall’s, and Theater Guild Magazines. In 1930, she published If It Takes All Summer: The Life Story of Ulysses S. Grant. She also wrote a review, "Uncle Tom Is Dead,” in 1931, and the following year dramatized her novel Young Mrs. Meigs for the stage.
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The three Graper Girls - sisters Marian, Ernestine and Beth, whose high school years were chronicled in the eponymous The Graper Girls, and whose first two years at university were covered in The Graper Girls Go to College - return in this third novel devoted to their adventures, enjoying a pleasant summer in New York City with their Cousin Hildegarde before returning for two more years at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison. Ernie, having fallen head over heels in love with New Yorker Stanley Davis at the beginning of the book, spends the next two years eagerly anticipating his letters and occasional visits, while still chumming around with her childhood pal Bob Hammond, and finding herself inducted into Phi Beta Kappa - a rare academic honor for a Junior. Marian, still as popular and as kind-hearted as ever, finds herself rescuing and/or helping her unfortunate fellows, from transfer student Amy Strobridge, whom she initially resents as an interloper in the Gamma Delta sorority, but whose engagement to Lester Peabody she helps to encourage; to hopeless would-be poet Tubby Williams, whose children's stories she transcribes and sends off to a publisher friend, with great results. Beth, who is a sophomore and junior here, rather than a junior and senior like her sisters, finds herself involved in the founding of the English Club, playing a role in the nuptials of Clara Andrews (a sorority sister she dislikes), and discovering the usefulness of Phi Beta Kappa - into which she too is unexpectedly inducted as a junior - in banishing that most obnoxiously persistent of suitors, Dorry Mallinson. Closing as Marian and Ernestine prepare for their graduation, the book leaves Marian once again engaged, this time to Tubby Williams!, Ernie determined to move to New York City and get a job, and Beth looking forward to her senior year.
The tone and style here are similar to that found in the first two Graper Girls books, with each sister narrating three of the nine chapters in a uniformly lighthearted, snappy fashion, despite the ostensible changes in perspective. The sisters' romantic entanglements, whether serious or trivial, loom large, as do the realities of daily life in a sorority house. Although published in 1934, there is no sense here that The Great Depression is occurring, and the Graper Girls come across as cushioned by the privilege of their fathers immense wealth, and their rather sequestered life as college women and sorority girls. I thought that this was rather interesting, as other vintage girls' series depicting this period that I have read - Lizette M. Edholm's Merriweather Girls books, for instance, which were published in 1932 - do reference such things as unemployment and people in need. Here there is one episode in which a less wealthy neighbor needs help attending college, but otherwise the wider social and economic events of the times might just as well not have been occurring. Changes in gender norms, on the other hand, do register in the story, despite some of the very conventional ideas - romance is paramount, and college is seen by some as something one does before marrying - that also appear. There were some interesting reflections on issues of women and intelligence - Beth loathes Dorry Mallinson, for instance, who is depicted as a self-involved bore who is afraid of clever girls, and both she and Ernie achieve notable academic success - issues central to the wider society's perception of the growing number of college-educated women. I was struck by the way in which the Gamma Delta house was depicted here, as there seemed to be more conflicts between the members, than there were in The Graper Girls Go to College, and am all the more eager to pick up a copy of Shirley Marchalonis' College Girls: A Century in Fiction, which apparently analyzes the significance of sorority life in the series.
All in all, Growing Up With the Grapers was a worthwhile read, particularly for those who have read its two predecessors, or who are interested in either vintage girls' series or in the college novel genre that flourished in the US in the first part of the twentieth century. The story can be rather shallow at times, but it also entertains**, and the artwork is engaging. This last is something I had meant to mention in my reviews of the first two books in Elizabeth Corbett's series, as the illustrator, Ruth King, also worked on the somewhat later Debbie Jones series by Laura Cooper Rendina, which featured a young girl at boarding school. In any case, having come this far with the Graper Girls, I definitely plan to continue on to the end, and hope my ILL for the fourth and final entry in the series, Beth and Ernestine Graper comes through.
**Please note: although dated, there is little overtly offensive content here, save for one very regrettable use of the word "n*gger," when Marian comments upon her sister Ernestine's "kinky hair," during a humid summer. Although not particularly surprising, in a title of this date, this sort of casual use (as opposed to something deliberate, such as in Mark Twain's work) always gives me a jolt, and throws me out of the narrative.… (mere)
The tone and style here are similar to that found in the first two Graper Girls books, with each sister narrating three of the nine chapters in a uniformly lighthearted, snappy fashion, despite the ostensible changes in perspective. The sisters' romantic entanglements, whether serious or trivial, loom large, as do the realities of daily life in a sorority house. Although published in 1934, there is no sense here that The Great Depression is occurring, and the Graper Girls come across as cushioned by the privilege of their fathers immense wealth, and their rather sequestered life as college women and sorority girls. I thought that this was rather interesting, as other vintage girls' series depicting this period that I have read - Lizette M. Edholm's Merriweather Girls books, for instance, which were published in 1932 - do reference such things as unemployment and people in need. Here there is one episode in which a less wealthy neighbor needs help attending college, but otherwise the wider social and economic events of the times might just as well not have been occurring. Changes in gender norms, on the other hand, do register in the story, despite some of the very conventional ideas - romance is paramount, and college is seen by some as something one does before marrying - that also appear. There were some interesting reflections on issues of women and intelligence - Beth loathes Dorry Mallinson, for instance, who is depicted as a self-involved bore who is afraid of clever girls, and both she and Ernie achieve notable academic success - issues central to the wider society's perception of the growing number of college-educated women. I was struck by the way in which the Gamma Delta house was depicted here, as there seemed to be more conflicts between the members, than there were in The Graper Girls Go to College, and am all the more eager to pick up a copy of Shirley Marchalonis' College Girls: A Century in Fiction, which apparently analyzes the significance of sorority life in the series.
All in all, Growing Up With the Grapers was a worthwhile read, particularly for those who have read its two predecessors, or who are interested in either vintage girls' series or in the college novel genre that flourished in the US in the first part of the twentieth century. The story can be rather shallow at times, but it also entertains**, and the artwork is engaging. This last is something I had meant to mention in my reviews of the first two books in Elizabeth Corbett's series, as the illustrator, Ruth King, also worked on the somewhat later Debbie Jones series by Laura Cooper Rendina, which featured a young girl at boarding school. In any case, having come this far with the Graper Girls, I definitely plan to continue on to the end, and hope my ILL for the fourth and final entry in the series, Beth and Ernestine Graper comes through.
**Please note: although dated, there is little overtly offensive content here, save for one very regrettable use of the word "n*gger," when Marian comments upon her sister Ernestine's "kinky hair," during a humid summer. Although not particularly surprising, in a title of this date, this sort of casual use (as opposed to something deliberate, such as in Mark Twain's work) always gives me a jolt, and throws me out of the narrative.… (mere)
Sisters Marian, Ernestine and Beth return in this follow-up to their first adventure, The Graper Girls, which chronicled their home and high-school life in small town Wisconsin. This second volume follows them as they embark upon their college careers at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison. Marian and Ernestine are the first to go, and soon find themselves swept up in the college life - most particularly, in the "Greek" life of the campus sororities and fraternities. Marian, who intends only to attend for two years, before marrying her hometown fiance, Ralph Stevens, becomes a devoted Gamma Delt, taking the idea of having the "proper spirit," and representing her chapter very much to heart. Ernestine, on the other hand, has a more mixed response to life in a sorority, opting not to move into the Gamma Delt house during her freshman and sophomore years, but to stay in the boarding house run by German immigrant Mrs. K. (Kuemmerlein). Beth, in the meantime, spends the first half of the book working toward finishing high school early, in order to join her sisters in Madison.
Like its predecessor, The Graper Girls Go to College is alternately narrated in the first person by the three sisters, each of whom has three chapters told from her perspective. The tone is snappy and the attitude lighthearted, which can be entertaining and irritating by turns. The romantic entanglements of the three Graper sisters is featured as prominently here as in the first book, with the added issues of frat vs. non-frat boys, and the proper dating behavior of (in Marian's case) a young woman who is engaged. I had understood from a friend that the depiction of sorority life in this series is discussed in Shirley Marchalonis' study, College Girls: A Century in Fiction, so I paid particular attention to that issue while reading. While the book at first appears to offer a more nuanced view, with blind and critical acceptance each being represented, in the persons of Marian and Ernestine, in the end the depiction is almost completely positive, with unhappy outsiders mostly finding their way into the fold (often through the efforts of the Graper Girls), and the one critical voice eventually changing her mind about some of her sisters. I'll be interested to read Marchalonis' perspective on all of this, when I finally do get to her study!
All in all, this was quite similar in style and content to the first book, so readers who enjoyed The Graper Girls will want to pick this one up as well. For my part, I enjoyed it a little more than I did the first, finding some of the humor quite entertaining - the roommate issues were hysterical! - and some of the secondary characters, such as the Irish-language loving Professor Lubitsch, appealing. Although I don't think this series is destined to become a favorite, I am engaged enough that I plan to read the next entry, Growing Up with the Grapers, in order to see what those three sisters get up to in New York.… (mere)
Like its predecessor, The Graper Girls Go to College is alternately narrated in the first person by the three sisters, each of whom has three chapters told from her perspective. The tone is snappy and the attitude lighthearted, which can be entertaining and irritating by turns. The romantic entanglements of the three Graper sisters is featured as prominently here as in the first book, with the added issues of frat vs. non-frat boys, and the proper dating behavior of (in Marian's case) a young woman who is engaged. I had understood from a friend that the depiction of sorority life in this series is discussed in Shirley Marchalonis' study, College Girls: A Century in Fiction, so I paid particular attention to that issue while reading. While the book at first appears to offer a more nuanced view, with blind and critical acceptance each being represented, in the persons of Marian and Ernestine, in the end the depiction is almost completely positive, with unhappy outsiders mostly finding their way into the fold (often through the efforts of the Graper Girls), and the one critical voice eventually changing her mind about some of her sisters. I'll be interested to read Marchalonis' perspective on all of this, when I finally do get to her study!
All in all, this was quite similar in style and content to the first book, so readers who enjoyed The Graper Girls will want to pick this one up as well. For my part, I enjoyed it a little more than I did the first, finding some of the humor quite entertaining - the roommate issues were hysterical! - and some of the secondary characters, such as the Irish-language loving Professor Lubitsch, appealing. Although I don't think this series is destined to become a favorite, I am engaged enough that I plan to read the next entry, Growing Up with the Grapers, in order to see what those three sisters get up to in New York.… (mere)
Originally published in the pages of the St. Nicholas Magazine in the late 1920s and early 1930s, these stories featuring the three Graper Girls - sisters Marian, Ernestine and Beth - offer a lighthearted exploration of everything from family relations to teen romance. Told from alternating perspectives - each sister narrates three of the nine chapters - the book chronicles the high school years of the three daughters of Mount Airy, Wisconsin's leading citizen and mill-owner, Mr. Graper. Each Graper Girl must contend with her own particular set of insecurities and challenges - the youngest, Beth, struggles with her weight; the middle, Ernestine, with her belief that she isn't as attractive or as feminine as her sisters; and the eldest, Marian, with the fact that she isn't as academically inclined as the others - while also trying to sort out her feelings for the various young men in her life, from the boys who have been around since childhood, to the more glamorous (and usually older) blow-ins that pop up from time to time.
Although I found The Graper Girls quite interesting in some respects - the insights into social history that the story provides, its status as a fore-runner of malt-shop novels - I cannot say I enjoyed it that much as a story. I liked parts of it, particularly the girls' relationship with their parents, but others left me unmoved, even bored. The tone is snappy - and it doesn't really change throughout, despite the ostensibly different narrators - and clearly meant to be amusing, but the result felt rather vapid. Without the social content - the tensions between the mid-western Mr. Graper and his eastern wife; the determination to be "democratic," despite their family's wealth; the decision to attend a co-ed state university, rather than a more prestigious single-sex college back east - this might have been a two-star title for me. I'm glad to have read it, and will most likely read the sequel, The Graper Girls Go to College, but I don't see it having much appeal, save for readers interested in vintage American girls' stories.… (mere)
Although I found The Graper Girls quite interesting in some respects - the insights into social history that the story provides, its status as a fore-runner of malt-shop novels - I cannot say I enjoyed it that much as a story. I liked parts of it, particularly the girls' relationship with their parents, but others left me unmoved, even bored. The tone is snappy - and it doesn't really change throughout, despite the ostensibly different narrators - and clearly meant to be amusing, but the result felt rather vapid. Without the social content - the tensions between the mid-western Mr. Graper and his eastern wife; the determination to be "democratic," despite their family's wealth; the decision to attend a co-ed state university, rather than a more prestigious single-sex college back east - this might have been a two-star title for me. I'm glad to have read it, and will most likely read the sequel, The Graper Girls Go to College, but I don't see it having much appeal, save for readers interested in vintage American girls' stories.… (mere)
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- Medlemmer
- 109
- Popularitet
- #178,011
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Like its predecessors, Beth and Ernestine Graper is a lighthearted read - a friend has described reading this series as being akin somehow to wallowing in a vat of marshmallow fluff, and I would tend to agree - one that skims happily along the surface of its subjects' lives, without ever delving too deep. The Graper Girls are daughters of immense privilege, living in a happy world that seems wholly untouched by the economic crises going on at the time (1936) the book was published. Nary a mention is made of the Great Depression, or of the drastic effects it had upon the nation and the world, and while the girls do encounter some financial realities - Marian discovers it is no easy thing to make do on Tubby's salary - these are small, "luxury" problems, easily solved by appealing to their father. The notions of gender and of romance that are presented are conventional, and are not significantly challenged in the story. Although the equal intelligence of women is championed by all three of the Grapers (one of the few progressive themes in Corbett's work), in areas such as financial and emotional well-being it is understood that women need to be looked after by men - even the independent Ernie, with her dreams of being a working girl in New York City, has her family wealth and connections to protect her, and the reader never gets the sense that her sojourn as a department store employee will be anything other than temporary - and all three of the girls are married by the end of the book. Despite its shallowness, or perhaps in part because of it, this is an entertaining read, painting a fascinating portrait, perhaps not of how women lived, but of how they desired to live, or were encouraged to live, during the 1930s. Having followed along with Marian, Ernestine and Beth since their high school days, the reader is rewarded with a happy ending for each. Recommended primarily to readers who have enjoyed the previous Graper Girls books, as well as to anyone interested in vintage American girls' series from the first half of the twentieth-century.… (mere)