''The Awakening of Helena Richie'' is a novel by the American writer
Margaret Deland (1857 - 1945) set in the 19th century fictional locale of Old Chester, a
Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
rural village just a few miles outside the city of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
, then an industrial boomtown.
Overview
Helena Richie leaves a drunken husband, who had killed their child, and goes to Old Chester with her friend Lloyd Pryor. Helena adopts a homeless boy, David, who had been a ward of the town's minister, Dr. Lavendar. Helena's true husband dies, but Lloyd Pryor, now tired of Helena, refuses to marry her. Helena confesses to the minister about her actual relationship with Pryor, and Dr. Lavendar forces her to give up her son. Helena agrees, certain that she is an unfit mother. Helena pleads her case and fights for her maternal rights.
It was first published in installments in ''
Harper's Monthly
''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...
'' from January through July 1906.
A 1909 Broadway play starred
Margaret Anglin
Mary Margaret Warren Anglin (April 3, 1876 – January 7, 1958) was a Canadian-born Broadway actress, director and producer. Encyclopædia Britannica calls her "one of the most brilliant actresses of her day."
Biography
Anglin was born in O ...
and a 1916
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...
starred
Ethel Barrymore.
External links
*''The Awakening of Helena Richie'' (1906) (
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...
Entry:
)
Google Books e-textpost 1909 printing of the bookwith
Margaret Anglin
Mary Margaret Warren Anglin (April 3, 1876 – January 7, 1958) was a Canadian-born Broadway actress, director and producer. Encyclopædia Britannica calls her "one of the most brilliant actresses of her day."
Biography
Anglin was born in O ...
and
Raymond Hackett
Raymond Hackett (July 15, 1902 – July 7, 1958) was a stage and screen actor. He had been a child actor on the Broadway stage and was the brother of Albert Hackett. He was born in New York City the son of Maurice Hackett and Florence Hackett (n ...
from the Broadway play on the cover
References
*
1906 American novels
American historical novels
Novels set in Pennsylvania
Novels first published in serial form
Works originally published in Harper's Magazine
Harper & Brothers books
American novels adapted into films
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