Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd (January 31, 1868 – March 18, 1942) was an early 20th-century American author. She published at least 10 novels, mostly written for young women.

Childhood

Eleanor was born at

Plum Grove Historic House Plum Grove is a historic house located in Iowa City, United States. Plum Grove was the retirement home of Gov. Robert Lucas and the childhood home of the author Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd. History Built in 1844, Lucas lived there with his wife, F ...

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the tim ...

, the historic home of Robert Lucas. Her parents, Walter Hoyt and Louisa Smith, were active in the abolitionist movement. Walter's family helped found Eleutherian College. Eleanor's 1919 novel, ''Our Little Old Lady'', is a biography of her parents.

Career

Eleanor began her professional career in New York City as a writer and editor for the ''

New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...

'', specializing in fashion writing. Her novel ''In Vanity Fair'' drew heavily from her coverage of fashion in Paris and New York. She published extensively in magazines, including '' Collier's,

The Girl's Own Paper ''The Girl's Own Paper'' (''G.O.P.'') was a British story paper catering to girls and young women, published from 1880 until 1956. Publishing history The first weekly number of ''The Girl's Own Paper'' appeared on 3 January 1880. As with its m ...

, Ladies' Home Journal,

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

,'' and ''

Everybody's Magazine ''Everybody's Magazine'' was an American magazine published from 1899 to 1929. The magazine was headquartered in New York City. History and profile The magazine was founded by Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker in 1899, though he had little role ...

'', typically in serial format. Her fictional novels often follow the same formula as the

Pollyanna ''Pollyanna'' is a 1913 novel by American author Eleanor H. Porter, considered a classic of children's literature. The book's success led to Porter's soon writing a sequel, ''Pollyanna Grows Up'' (1915). Eleven more ''Pollyanna'' sequels, know ...

or Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm series, in which a young girl, often an orphan, tries to improve the lives of adults through pluck and daring. Three of Eleanor's novels were made into silent films, '' Pegeen'' (1920), '' How Could You, Jean?'' (1918), and ''For Love of Mary Ellen'' (1915). ''How Could You, Jean?,'' the most famous of the films, was directed by

William Desmond Taylor William Desmond Taylor (born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner, 26 April 1872 – 1 February 1922) was an Anglo-Irish-American film director and actor. A popular figure in the growing Hollywood motion picture colony of the 1910s and early 1920s, ...

and starred

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

Personal life

Many of Eleanor's novels were written in

East Hampton, Connecticut East Hampton is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 12,717 at the 2020 census. The town center village is listed as a census-designated place (CDP). East Hampton includes the boroughs of Cobalt, Middle Had ...

, at her “Faraway Farm” retreat. In 1904 she married attorney Charles Chisholm Brainerd, the nephew of the well-known writer Margaret Elizabeth Sangster. Charles and Eleanor retired to Pasadena, California and are buried in Oakland Cemetery, Iowa City.''Iowa City Press-Citizen'', 20 March 1942, p. 9; see also ''New York Times'', 19 March 1942, p. 21.

Published novels

*1902 – ''The Misdemeanors of Nancy.'' Doubleday, New York. Republished in 1903 and 1904 (as Eleanor Hoyt). *1904 – ''Nancy's Country Christmas, and Other Stories.'' illustr. Anna Whelan Betts, Doubleday, New York. *1905 – ''Concerning Belinda.'' Doubleday, New York. Reprinted 1969, Books for Library Press, Freeport, New York. *1906 – ''In Vanity Fair: A Tale of Frocks and Femininity.'' Moffat, Yard and Co., New York. *1907 – ''Bettina.'' Doubleday, New York. *1910 – ''The Personal Conduct of Belinda.'' Doubleday, New York. *1912 – ''For Love of Mary Ellen: A Romance of Childhood.'' Harper, New York. *1915 – ''Pegeen.'' Century, New York. *1917 – ''How Could You, Jean?'' Doubleday, Garden City, New York. *1919 – ''Our Little Old Lady.'' Doubleday, Garden City, New York.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brainerd, Eleanor Hoyt 1868 births 1942 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers American fashion journalists American romantic fiction writers American women journalists American women novelists Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Iowa People from East Hampton, Connecticut The New York Sun people Women romantic fiction writers Writers from Iowa City, Iowa Writers from New York City