Gladys Huntington (1887 – 1959), née Parrish, was an American writer. Huntington's works include the novel ''Carfrae's Comedy'', the play ''Barton's Folly'', and the bestselling book ''Madame Solario''. Gladys Huntington writer

Biography

Huntington was born Gladys Theodora Parrish in Philadelphia to a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

family on December 13, 1887. Her parents were Alfred Parrish and Katharine Broadwood Jennings. From a young age, she lived in New York, Paris, London, Biarritz, Rome, and "a villa on Lake Como." She married Boston native Constant Davis Huntington on October 17, 1916. The two moved to London where Constant opened Putnam's London office. The two resided in

Hyde Park Gardens Hyde Park Gardens, also known as Hyde Park Terrace consists of two roads running adjacent to the north western corner of Hyde Park, Westminster, Greater London. Number 1 Hyde Park Gardens runs up to Number 23 with a large private communal garden ...

and then at

Amberley Amberley may refer to: Places Australia *Amberley, Queensland, near Ipswich, Australia *RAAF Base Amberley, a Royal Australian Air Force military airbase United Kingdom * Amberley, Gloucestershire, England * Amberley, Herefordshire, England ...

House in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, where they remained until her death. On May 31, 1959, three years after the publication of ''Madame Solario'', Huntington committed suicide.

Writing

Huntington published two novels, a play, and two short stories in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''. She is best known for ''Madame Solario''. The novel was anonymously published in 1956 (likely due to what was considered scandalous content), and her identity as the author would not be revealed for three decades. It is mainly thanks to the French journalist and novelist Bernard Cohen, who investigated in 2009, that Huntington was recognized as Madame Solario's author. The book was immediately republished in France with the author's name on the cover. The story takes place in

Cadenabbia Cadenabbia (Cadenabbia di Griante) is a small community in Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Como, on the west shore of Lake Como. The community is part of the comune of Griante, between the communities of Menaggio and Tremezzo. Cadenabbia is ...

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

in 1906. The novel has been translated into seven languages. However, it went out of print for a period of time.

Persephone Books ''Persephone Books'' is an independent publisher based in Bath, England. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone Books reprints works largely by women writers of the late 19th and 20th century, though a few books by men are included. Th ...

released a new edition in 2016 with a foreword by Alison Adburgham. It was adapted into a French film by

René Féret René Féret (26 May 1945 – 28 April 2015) was a French actor, screenwriter, film director and producer.Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, , ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 1903 – 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the ''Prix Fem ...

, who discussed it on several occasions in her correspondence. In a segment on neglected books,

Mary Renault Eileen Mary Challans (4 September 1905 – 13 December 1983), known by her pen name Mary Renault ("She always pronounced it 'Ren-olt', though almost everyone would come to speak of her as if she were a French car." ), was an English writer best ...

in ''The American Scholar'' praised the book and called it "one of the finest novels of our century." In a letter,

Paul Bowles Paul Frederic Bowles (; December 30, 1910November 18, 1999) was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator. He became associated with the Moroccan city of Tangier, where he settled in 1947 and lived for 52 years to the end of his ...

called it "beautifully imagined and written", adding, "What a shame that the author never wrote anything else! And didn't even dare sign her name to it for fear of scandalizing her British in-laws. (She was American, of course!)" When

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

published the novel in paperback in 1978, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "When first published 1956, this anonymous novel was acclaimed for its elegant style and disturbing urgency. It deserves a new audience." Huntington's prose is often compared to that of

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

. After her death, she left an unfinished novel, titled ''The Ladies' Mile''.

Works

* ''Carfrae's Comedy'' (1915) * ''Madame Solario'' (1956)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntington, Gladys 1887 births 1959 deaths 20th-century American women writers Writers from Philadelphia American dramatists and playwrights People from Amberley, West Sussex 1959 suicides Suicides in England