Rachel field biography
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The Field House: A Writer’s Life Lost and funnen on an Island in Maine
She Writes Press
Early in The Field House: A Writer’s Life Lost and Found on an Island in Maine author Robin Clifford Wood asks, “Why has no one told her story?” The “her” is Rachel Field, subject of this affectionate biography, and the question fryst vatten a good one: From around to her death in , the poet, novelist, and playwright gained broad acclaim for her writing.
Hitty: The First One Hundred Years won the Newbery Award in (the first given to a woman); God’s Pocket, , was hailed as a Maine coast classic; and three of her novels were made into feature films, with Time Out of Mind (whose heroine is named Kate Fernald, a classic Cranberry Isles name) winning the National Book Award in
One of the reasons for the oversight: Field never experienced the scandals or the bright spotlight…
Add to that several popular plays and some memorable poetry, including the timeless “If Once You Have Slept on an Isl
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Rachel Field, Rediscovered on a Maine Island
Rachel Field today is remembered through her children’s book, Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, but she also wrote several bestsellers for adults, seven poetry collections and a screenplay for a Bette Davis film that earned three Oscar nominations.
Rachel Field on Sutton Island
She might have lingered in the public eye longer, but she died suddenly at 47, on the verge of fulfilling her most cherished dream.
Eighty years after her death, another writer discovered Rachel Field on Sutton Island off the Maine coast. Robin Clifford Wood and her husband in bought Field’s long-abandoned cottage. Her things were still there: her wooden sleigh bed, her wicker chairs, her Scottie-dog tchotchkes, a map she bought in Paris in , her books, an embroidered dish towel.
Rachel Field captivated Wood, who spent more than a decade researching her life. She discovered Rachel’s deep disappointments. “There were shadows of loss, heartbreak, secrecy, a
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Field, Rachel Lyman (–)
American novelist and writer for children. Born on September 19, , in New York City; died on March 15, , in Beverly Hills, California; buried in Stockbridge, Massachusetts; youngest of five children of Matthew D. (a physician) and Lucy (Atwater) Field; graduated from Springfield High School, Springfield, Massachusetts; attended Radcliffe College as a special student, –18; married Arthur S. Pederson (a literary agent), on June 20, ; one adopted daughter, Hannah Pederson.
Awards, honors:
Drama League of America prize (), for Rise Up, Jennie Smith; Newbery Medal, the first awarded to a woman (), for Hitty: Her First Hundred Years.
Selected writings—all for children, except as noted:
(illustrated by Allen Lewis) Calico Bush (Macmillan, ); (self-illus.) An Alphabet for Boys and Girls (Doubleday, Page, ); (illus. by Elizabeth MacKinstry) Eliza and the Elves (Macmillan, ); (illus. by MacKinstry) The Magic Pawnshop: A New Year's Eve Fantasy (