Gail Godwin (born June 18, 1937) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer. Godwin has written 14 novels, two short story collections, three non-fiction books, and ten

libretti A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

. Her primary literary accomplishments are her novels, which have included five best-sellers and three finalists for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

. Most of her books are realistic fiction novels that follow a character's psychological and intellectual development, often based on themes taken from Godwin's own life. Godwin was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, but raised mostly in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

by her mother and grandmother. She adopted her mother's interest in writing at an early age and obtained a Bachelor's degree in journalism from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

(UNC). After graduating, she worked briefly as a reporter for ''

The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.U.S. Travel Service run by the U.S. Embassy in London. She returned to the U.S. after six years. Godwin taught English at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

, while earning her M.A. (1968) and Ph.D. (1971) in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

. While at the University of Iowa, Godwin's dissertation became her first novel, ''The Perfectionists''. By 1976 she had become a successful writer and author of three books. In particular, two books written by her in the 1980s, ''A Mother and Two Daughters'' (1982) and ''A Southern Family'' (1987), resulted in further acclaim and expanded the readership of her books. Following ''The Finishing School'' (1984), readership of her books dramatically declined until 2006, when ''Queen of the Underworld'' was published. ''Flora'' (2013) became one of her more commercially successful novels.

Early life and family

Gail Godwin was born on June 18, 1937 in

. Her parents, Kathleen Krahenbuhl and Mose Winston Godwin, were both from North Carolina, but visiting cousins in Alabama when Godwin was born. Godwin's parents divorced two years later. After the breakup, Gail and her mother moved in with her grandparents in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. They moved again to

Weaverville, NC Weaverville is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,120 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Chartered in 1875 and named for Michael Montraville Weaver ...

and then to Asheville, NC. Her grandfather died in 1939, so Godwin was raised by her mother and grandmother in Asheville, where they lived until 1948. Godwin's grandmother filled the traditional role of a mother, cleaning, cooking and sewing, while her mother was the

breadwinner The breadwinner model is a paradigm of family centered on a breadwinner, "the member of a family who earns the money to support the others." Traditionally, the earner works outside the home to provide the family with income and benefits such as he ...

. Godwin's mother had a Bachelor's and master's degree from

. She taught college-level English in the mornings, and worked as a reporter for a local paper, ''

Asheville Citizen-Times The ''Asheville Citizen-Times'' is an American, English language daily newspaper of Asheville, North Carolina. It was formed in 1991 as a result of a merger of the morning ''Asheville Citizen'' and the afternoon ''Asheville Times''. It is owned ...

'', in the evenings. On the weekends she wrote love stories for magazines in New York. According to Godwin, growing up with two female guardians had an influence on her writing and her decision to become a writer. By age five she had started identifying with her mother's occupation as a writer more so than her grandmother's work. At nine years old Godwin wrote her first story, titled "Ollie McGonnigle". Gail Godwin (age 13) with Mother Kathleen Cole

Gail Godwin (age 13) with Mother Kathleen Cole

In 1948 Kathleen married Frank Cole, a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

veteran, and moved the family to Virginia. Godwin was further inspired by her mother's determination to continue writing after having a second child. According to Godwin, much of her time growing up was spent in the newsroom, where her mother worked. She also witnessed her mother's plays and novels being rejected. Godwin's autobiography creates the impression that much of her own writing was intended to accomplish the things her mother could not. As Cole's salary increased and he was able to support the family, Godwin's mother focused on being a wife and homemaker, eventually not writing at all. In Godwin's late teens, her stepfather was working as a salesman and the family moved often. Godwin attended several different high schools, including an all-girls Catholic school, St. Genevieve-of-the-Pines. It was Godwin's favorite teacher at St. Genevieve-of-the-Pines who persuaded her to start keeping a personal diary. According to Godwin, she had a "church upbringing or convent school training." She attended church at St. Mary's and All Souls. She also wrote a short novel as a teenager. Godwin had no relationship with her father, until the two re-connected at her high school graduation. Godwin's father then offered to pay for her college education. During her junior year in college, Godwin moved in with her father, who committed suicide later that year. Godwin's uncle and a half brother later committed suicide as well. Her mother died in a car accident in 1989. Godwin attended

Peace College William Peace University is a private college in Raleigh, North Carolina. Formerly affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, it offers undergraduate degrees in more than 30 majors and the School of Professional Studies (SPS) offers accelerated ba ...

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

from 1955 to 1957. She then transferred to

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

(UNC), where she attended from 1957 to 1959, graduating with a bachelor's degree in journalism. While in college she worked on ''The Otherwise Virgins'', a novel her mother had written, but was unable to find a publisher for. In 1959 Knopf sent an agent to UNC to scout young writers. Godwin submitted a portion of her novel ''Windy Peaks'' for their consideration. The story was about the staff and guests at a resort hotel in the mountains. Her manuscript was rejected. Godwin also worked as a waitress at Mayview Manor at

Blowing Rock, North Carolina Blowing Rock is a town in Watauga and Caldwell counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 1,397 at the 2021 census. The Caldwell County portion of Blowing Rock is part of the Hickory– Lenoir– Morganton Metropo ...

during her sophomore and junior years.

Early work

Godwin's first job out of college was at ''

The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami. They were married in 1960 and divorced several months later in 1961. According to Godwin, she "worked very hard", but her stories were too "flamboyant" for the publication and she was fired. According to ''Contemporary Literary Criticism'', she was incorporating too much human interest into the paper's stories, which were supposed to be factual. After briefly living with her mother again, Godwin moved to London to distance herself from a failed marriage and job. In London Godwin worked for the U.S. Travel Service run by the American

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

from 1961 to 1965. Godwin said she was a "glorified receptionist," who was able to read books in secret while at work. Her cousin, who was the mayor of

Weaverville, North Carolina Weaverville is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,120 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Chartered in 1875 and named for Michael Montraville Weaver ...

, helped to get her the job. While she was employed by the embassy, Godwin completed a novel entitled ''Gull Key''. Like many of her early works, the book focuses on a female character figuring out if marriage and being a parent is the life she wants for herself. Several publishers rejected the novel and the manuscript was lost when Godwin sent the only copy to a publisher that went out of business without returning it. While in England, Godwin took a course in creative writing at the City Literature Institute, where she met her second husband, psychiatrist Ian Marshall. They were married two months later. The marriage was brief and they were divorced in 1966. After their breakup, Godwin returned to the United States. At age 29, she took a job as fact-checker in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

for ''

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 c ...

''. She said the job was embarrassing, because she wanted to be a writer, as opposed to fact-checking the work of others. At this point, a distant uncle of Godwin's died, leaving her an inheritance of $5,000. She used the money to apply to the

Iowa Writers Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Wr ...

and, after being accepted, to move from New York to

Iowa City 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 time ...

in 1967. There Godwin met her teacher and future mentor

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

. At Iowa, Godwin worked as an instructor while earning an M.A. and Ph.D. from the same university in 1968 and 1971 respectively. She began teaching

Greek Drama Ancient Greek theatre was a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was its centre, where the theatre was ...

, before earning a position teaching literature. By age 30, Godwin had written three novels, but was unable to get any of them published.

Author

Early published work

According to ''The Asheville Citizen-Times'', Godwin's first successful work was a 1969 short story in ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

''. Her first published novel was her dissertation written as graduate work at University of Iowa. It was published in 1970 and called ''The Perfectionists''. The story was based loosely on Godwin's second marriage. It was accepted by

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

in December 1968, while Godwin completing her graduate work. From 1971 on, Godwin earned a living through her work as a writer and augmented her income by means of intermittent teaching positions. Gail & Robert's Woodstock House

After completing her graduate work in 1971, Godwin spent two months at the Yaddo artist's colony in Upstate New York in 1972. There she wrote 100 pages of a novel called ''The Villain'', which was never published. The work was scrapped, but ended up being part of the basis for ''The Odd Woman''. According to author Jane Hill, it was while working on ''The Odd Women'' that Godwin transitioned from linear narratives to more complex structures where the plot interweaves past and present events. It was at Yaddo that Godwin met composer Robert Starer and began a life partnership with him that lasted until his death in 2001. They moved to Stone Ridge, New York in 1973 and later built a house in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 2000 ...

, where Godwin continued her work from home. In addition to her books and short stories, Godwin wrote

for ten of Starer's musical compositions.

Height of Godwin's career

By 1976 Godwin was a successful writer and novelist who had published three books: ''The Perfectionists'', ''Glass People'', and ''The Odd Woman''. ''The Odd Woman'' was the longest and most widely recognized of the three. Several short stories by Godwin were published in prominent magazines like Harper's Esquire,

Ms. Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...

and the

Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Phil ...

, where she was often featured on the cover. Godwin was awarded grants from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

(1975–76) and the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been ...

(1975–76). Throughout her career, Godwin worked consistently with her agent, John Hawkins, but worked with several different publishing houses. Godwin's early books were published by

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

. After the editor for ''The Perfectionists'', David Segal, died suddenly of a heart attack,

Robert Gottlieb Robert Adams Gottlieb (born April 29, 1931) is an American writer and editor. He has been editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf, and ''The New Yorker''. Early life and education Robert Gottlieb was born to a Jewish family in New Y ...

from Knopf became her editor for her next four books. Godwin credits Gottlieb for much of the success of her early works. Later on, when Godwin's then-recent books were less widely read, ''USA Today'' commented that this could be in part because she was no longer working with Gottlieb. After Knopf, Godwin contracted with

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

, who offered larger advances and more publicity for her books. During the years 1982 to 1991, Godwin produced another collection of short fiction and four more novels. According to ''Publishers Weekly'', it was ''A Mother and Two Daughters'' (1982) and ''A Southern Family'' (1987) that substantially expanded her readership. These novels remained on bestseller lists for an extended period of time. Godwin's earlier works had sold an average of less than 8,000 copies, while ''A Mother and Two Daughters'' sold more than 1.5 million. It was the most popular of Godwin's early works and the first time she had written a narrative from the point-of-view of multiple characters. In 1987, Godwin was awarded the

Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize The Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize is a literary award presented annually for the "best book-length work of prose fiction" by an American woman. The award has been given by the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women's Studies and the Depar ...

for her work on ''The Southern Family''. By the early 2000s, five of Godwin's books had made the New York Times Bestsellers List and three were finalists for the National Book Award.

Recent works

By 1999 Godwin had published ten novels. In 2001, Godwin's partner,

Robert Starer Robert Starer (8 January 1924 in Vienna – 22 April 2001 in Kingston, New York) was an Austrian-born American composer, pianist and educator. Robert Starer began studying the piano at age 4 and continued his studies at the Vienna State Academy ...

, died and she began writing a fictional story based on their life called ''Evenings at Five'' that was published two years later. In November 2004 Godwin signed a contract with the publisher

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

for her next four books. According to ''Publishers Weekly'', Godwin had "achieved a huge degree of success" and still had many devoted readers, but by 1999 she was "no longer the draw she once was." By 2006 ''The Finishing School'' (1984) was her last major, commercially successful book, which was followed by a drop in readership. According to Godwin, she was "one of the many authors to be caught in the tumult while

he publishing industry He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

thrashed about in search of a new business model." ''The Los Angeles Times'' said her characters that were progressive working women in the 1970s and 1980s, were now considered "tame" in a modern context. ''Kirkus Reviews'' said Godwin had "a couple of subpar efforts," until publishing ''Queen of the Underworld'' in 2006. ''Flora'' (2013) became one of her better selling books. Godwin also authored an autobiography, ''Publishing'' that appeared in 2015. The ''Los Angeles Times'' said her auto-biography was a "preemptive strike" after she was approached by an independent biographer. As of 2015, Godwin's published works have included 14 novels, two collections of short stories, three non-fiction works, and ten libretti.

Academia and other work

According to ''The Intellectual in Twentieth-Century Southern Literature'', Godwin was unusual in that she was a popular novelist that was also working in academia. Godwin taught at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

Center for Advanced Studies from 1971 to 1972. During her time as an author, she was also a lecturer at the Iowa Writers' Workshop (1972 to 1973),

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

(1977), and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(1978/1981). She acted as chair of the fiction panel for the

National Book Awards The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

in 1986 and 2008. In 1989, Godwin also founded a small publishing house called St. Hilda's Press. It published religious texts not printed by more commercialized publishers. She later became a Distinguished Alumna of the University of North Carolina and the University of Iowa.

Themes

Most of Godwin's works are based on themes or events taken from her own life. The characters, settings and narratives vary from novel-to-novel, but common topics have included family, the position of women in society and relationships, a woman's artistic and career pursuits, and the role of religious faith. According to ''The Intellectual in Twentieth-Century Southern Literature'', Godwin's characters "struggle intellectually to navigate the mazes of race, class, gender, family, faith and religion." According to ''Contemporary Literary Criticism'', "she writes about issues pertaining to women - male-female roles, marriage, family, personal freedom, self-concept, and self-actualization." Author Jane Hill said Godwin's books are about co-existing with authorities, the role of decision-making in life, careers as an artist, and the consequences of thwarted ambition. Much of her emphasis is on the concept of the self and one's struggles with society. Most of the academic analysis of Godwin's work focuses on challenges her characters have as women. According to ''Contemporary Fiction Writers of the South'', a typical protagonist in Godwin's novels is a young woman that "in search of herself, confronts obstacles caused by her family, her lovers, her husband, or her own inanition as she struggles to establish her independence and secure her identity through her work." The main character may be personally flawed, then achieve self-reflection or personal growth thanks to the support of their community or a mentor. Main characters often make poor choices, but become a better person, learn to make better decisions and build stronger bonds often as a result of intellectual pursuits. According to critic Anne Cheney, the protagonist may be "searching for happiness, academic or artistic achievement, love, respect, or, more generally, meaning in life." According to

Warren French Warren French (born 26 March 1963) is a former New Zealand professional darts player. He lives in Ashburton and uses the nickname Frog for his matches. Career French reached the final of the 2006 New Zealand Open, losing to former world cham ...

from the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

, Godwin's works are most often seen as having two primary themes: gender roles and southern settings. French said Godwin herself disapproves of being categorized, which she feels creates "externally imposed limitations" on the themes she covers. However scholars continue to attempt to put her work into a distinctive literary category. In her early works Godwin was seen as a "woman" writer, because her books appealed to a mostly female audience and because she is a woman. After publishing ''A Southern Family'' she began being identified as a southern writer. According to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' (London), Godwin has a "pesky resistance to categorisation" and she often changes themes even after being commercially successful with one. Academic Lihong Xie said Godwin could be identified with the literary tradition of the

Bildungsroman In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood ( coming of age), in which character change is impo ...

, which focuses on the moral and psychological development of a character. Many other critics posit that a quest for meaning and self-identification are Godwin's primary themes. Other themes in Godwin's work have included escaping the cultural expectations of becoming a "southern lady," childhood abandonment, depression and suicide, racial discrimination, social class and succeeding without a male companion. Her work has spanned different literary categories, such as realism, fantasy and allegory.

Early works

All of Godwin's books written from 1970 to 1990 are fictional stories based on themes taken from Godwin's life. Her early works focus on women hoping for a relationship with a male companion, but at the same time wanting independence and freedom. The main protagonist is often restricted by family, tradition and patriarchy. Most of Godwin's early works include a prominent mother-daughter relationship as well. Her first three books, ''The Perfectionists'' (1970), ''Glass People'' (1972) and ''The Odd Woman'' (1974), have protagonists who find that their relationship with a male companion restricts their personal and professional development. The first two books are each about a female character who feels trapped in an unhappy marriage. According to ''Contemporary Southern Writers'', "unlike fairy tale romances, these novels present a realistic depiction of feminist concerns and struggles." Lihong Xie comments that Godwin's protagonists are southern women that "caught between the ideal of southern womanhood and contemporary feminism, struggle to form a personal identity ..." ''Violet Clay'' (1978) and ''A Mother and Two Daughters'' (1982) are each about an unmarried protagonist's career in a creative profession. In ''A Mother and Two Daughters'' the main character resists the temptation to get married and chooses instead to focus on her work. ''A Mother and Two Daughters'' and ''A Southern Family'' (1987) each depend heavily on a southern setting and employ themes traditionally associated with social problems in the South. Some of their themes include racial discrimination, social-economic class and the cultural differences between generations. Many characters struggle to reduce the gap between the rich and poor or try to break free from a dominant cultural tradition, with mixed success. In Godwin's early books, the female protagonists tend to be fearful, passive and repeating of their mistakes. The protagonist is often depicted as a victim who has failed to achieve independence and is struggling to form a personal identity that could exist beyond that of their relationship with a male companion. In her next books, Godwin begins to introduce stronger and more independent central characters. ''Violet Clay'' (1978) for example, features a more assertive character than those in prior novels. According to Susan S. Kissel Adams from

Northern Kentucky University Northern Kentucky University is a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky. It is primarily an undergraduate institution with over 14,000 students; over 12,000 are undergraduate students and nearly 2,000 are graduate students. Northern ...

, Godwin's later characters:

come to value inclusion and connection over exclusion and isolation in their lives. They seek ways to combine their private and their public selves, open and extend family structures, take political action, and fulfill their social responsibilities ... In their struggle against southern codes and family structures that retain a powerful hold even in the late twentieth century. Godwin's daughters of the South grow from a state of dependency and arrested development: they begin to embark on mature, adult lives of their own.

Later works

As in her earlier novels, Godwin's work in the 1970s and 1980s still centers mostly on difficulties female characters experienced as women. However, she departs from this theme in ''The Finishing School'' (1984), which is about two women of different generations and the student-mentor relationship between them, rather than their relationship with men. According to Lihong Xie, Godwin's work during this period continues to be about "the female self" and a woman's intimate relationships with husbands, fathers and God. Godwin's books begin to incorporate religious themes starting with ''Father Melancholy's Daughter'' (1991). The novel is told from the perspective of multiple characters, each of whom has a different perspective on religion. ''Father Melancholy's Daughter'' was followed by several books that centered on the Episcopal church and Christian practices. In these novels female and male characters have a more equal influence on the events and plot than in prior novels. Godwin's books neither evangelize nor mock the practices of the Episcopal Church, but rather treat it as a routine aspect of life, or as a subject of intellectual interest. During these years Godwin's books continued to show father figures who have died or are absent. By 1996 two of her books had fathers that died and five had stepfathers that are depicted as intruding on the mother-daughter relationship. According to ''Narrative Magazine'', Godwin transitions from female protagonists who are "looking for ways to get out of traps and confinements" to those who make "interesting or dangerous life choices." Some of Godwin's later works depict successful, but unconventional marriages. In ''The Good Husband'' (1994) both partners accept the wife's career as having a priority over the husband's. ''The Good Husband'' is also a return to the theme of marriage that is typical of some of Godwin's earlier works. According to ''Contemporary Southern Writers'', ''The Good Husband'' "explores the dying experience." Godwin also published several non-fiction works based on her own life during this period. Godwin's short story collections ''Dream Children'' and ''Mr. Bedford and the Muses'' focus on themes similar to those in her novels, but also incorporate dreams and myth. They tend to be less auto-biographical than her novels. According to philosopher

Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka (February 28, 1923 – June 7, 2014) was a Polish philosopher, phenomenologist, founder and president of The World Phenomenology Institute, and editor (from its inception in the late 1960s) of the book series, ''Analecta ...

, Godwin's approach to dream-worlds is radical, because the dream is incorporated into the characters' real-world experiences. Her characters compare their real and dream worlds to each other in order to "negotiate their sense of destiny." She said ''Dream Children'' challenges the distinction between reality and dream experiences, where the dream does not "violate one's theory of reality." ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' said that the subjects covered in ''Unfinished Desires'' (2010) include "Mean girls. Lesbian kisses. Learning disabilities. Domestic violence. Alcoholism. ndRoman Catholic nuns." According to ''The Times'' (London), ''Flora'' (2013) "encompasses most of the themes that have preoccupied odwinthroughout her career." It takes place in the South in the mid-1940s in the mountains, where a widowed schoolmaster raises his ten-year-old daughter. In a 2015 interview, Godwin says that her work has become less "angry". She said her early works showed a frustration with not being heard, and that her later books focuses on her enemies. Now she's working to understand "the villains' villains."

Reception

By 1980 Godwin's writing had become the subject of essays, book chapters and other literary analysis from academic critics. According to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', "Gail Godwin has been accused of not being able to decide whether she's a popular or a literary writer, but she's certainly accrued enough bestsellers and literary honors to claim both identities." Much of the scholarly attention on her works comes from those critics with an interest in southern or feminist authors. According to ''Contemporary Fiction Writers of the South'', Godwin's books have been "widely and favorably reviewed". ''Contemporary American Women Fiction Writers'' states that "although some reviews of her work have been mixed ... her books are accomplished works of fiction, if not masterpieces." ''Contemporary Literary Criticism'' said "most of her books are characterized as well-written, well executed, readable, witty, and having vivid, believable characters. Godwin is typically praised for having convincing plots, witty, intelligent characters and that she has strong narrative skill. She has been criticized, in particular in response to ''The Good Husband'', for excessive symbolism. According to the ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'', Godwin is "thoughtful and philosophical", but she is often critiqued for authoring fiction that is so closely representative of her own life. ''The Odd Woman'', ''The Finishing School'' and ''Southern Family'' received overall positive reviews, while ''Violet Clay'' and ''The Good Husband'' received more negative reviews. According to ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', ''Flora'' was one of Godwin's best books.

List of works

This list of works has been taken mostly from Gail Godwin's entry in the

Dictionary of Literary Biography The ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'' is a specialist biographical dictionary dedicated to literature. Published by Gale, the 375-volume setRogers, 106. covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods, and genres, with a focus on American an ...

Personal life

Gail Godwin lives in a large house in the mountains in

. She does most of her writing in her study at home. As of 1999, she was swimming every day. She has a southern accent. Godwin is an Episcopalian.

Notes

References

External links

Official website

92Y / The Paris Review Interview Series: Gail Godwin with John Irving
* Pia Z. Ehrhardt (Winter 2010
Gail Godwin, an interview
at ''

Narrative Magazine ''Narrative'' is an online magazine and website that is dedicated to advancing the literary arts in the digital age and publishes fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and art. It was founded in 2003. History and profile Founded in 2003, the l ...

''.
Interview with Gail Godwin
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Godwin, Gail 1937 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Living people Writers from Birmingham, Alabama Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni William Peace University alumni People from Woodstock, New York 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Alabama UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media alumni