The velveteen daughter

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Huber, Laurel Davis

Physical Description:

399 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Genre:

Biographical fiction.

Summary:

The Velveteen Daughter reveals for the first time the true story of two remarkable women: Margery Williams Bianco, the author of one of the most beloved children's books of all time— The Velveteen Rabbit— and her daughter Pamela, a world-renowned child prodigy artist whose fame at one time greatly eclipses her mother's. But celebrity at such an early age exacts a great toll. Pamela's dreams elude her as she struggles with severe depressions, an overbearing father, an obsessive love affair, and a spectacularly misguided marriage. Throughout, her life raft is her mother. The glamorous art world of Europe and New York in the early 20th century and a supporting cast of luminaries— Eugene O'Neill and his wife Agnes (Margery's niece), Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and Richard Hughes, author of A High Wind in Jamaica— provide a vivid backdrop to the Biancos' story. From the opening pages, the novel will captivate readers with its multifaceted and illuminating observations on art, family, and the consequences of genius touched by madness.

Subject Term:

Women artists -- Fiction.

Women authors -- Fiction.

Publication Info:

Berkeley, CA : She Writes Press, [2017]

Subject:

Women artists -- Fiction.

Women authors -- Fiction.

Biographical fiction.

Bianco, Margery Williams, 1881-1944 -- Fiction.

Bianco, Pamela, 1906-1994 -- Fiction.

Williams, Margery, 1881-1944

Williams Bianco, Margery, 1881-1944

Bianco, Margery, 1881-1944

Williams, Margery Winifred, 1881-1944

Bianco, Margery Winifred Williams, 1881-1944

Artists, Women

Women as artists

Authors, Women

Female authors

Women as authors

SAILS ISBN:

9781631521928

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Foxboro - Boyden Library	FIC HUBER	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Holmes Public Library	HUB	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mansfield Public Library	FIC HUBER	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Mattapoisett Free Public Library	HUB	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Middleborough Public Library	F HUB	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Francis J. Lawler Branch	FIC HUBER	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Wilks Branch	FIC HUBER	FICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Richards Memorial Library	HUBER	FICTION	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

The Velveteen Daughter reveals for the first time the true story of two remarkable women: Margery Williams Bianco, the author of one of the most beloved children's books of all time, The Velveteen Rabbit ,and her daughter Pamela, a world-renowned child prodigy artist whose fame at one time greatly eclipses her mother's. But celebrity at such an early age exacts a great toll. Pamela's dreams elude her as she struggles with severe depressions, an overbearing father, an obsessive love affair, and a spectacularly misguided marriage. Throughout, her life raft is her mother.The glamorous art world of Europe and New York in the early 20th century and a supporting cast of luminaries--Eugene O'Neill and his wife Agnes (Margery's niece), Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and Richard Hughes, author of A High Wind in Jamaica --provide a vivid backdrop to the Biancos' story. From the opening pages, the novel will captivate readers with its multifaceted and illuminating observations on art, family, and the consequences of genius touched by madness.

Reviews (2)

Booklist Review

Debut novelist Huber brings psychological acuity and tender empathy to her portraits of Margery Williams, the English American author of the children's literature classic The Velveteen Rabbit, and her artist daughter, Pamela Bianco. Huber's novel knits their viewpoints together in short alternating chapters, a perfect structure for characters whose lives are so intertwined that it would be difficult to tell their stories separately. Growing up in early twentieth-century Turin, Pamela displays such uncanny artistic talent that her Italian-born father puts her under the spotlight, arranging exhibitions that gain her international attention. This childhood fame has dire repercussions. As a young woman in New York's art scene, Pamela endures melancholic episodes and suffers intense, unrequited love for a family friend, while lively, warmhearted Margery constantly worries about her fragile daughter's stability. Huber excels in depicting these complex family dynamics, and her subject is strikingly original. Combining the elegance of literary fiction with realistic period atmosphere and an emotional openness reminiscent of personal memoirs, the prose is entirely immersive. A compelling read for art- and women's-history enthusiasts as well as historical-fiction fans.--Johnson, Sarah Copyright 2010 Booklist

Library Journal Review

DEBUT -It doesn't take long for author Margery Williams and Italian husband Francesco Bianco to realize that their daughter, Pamela Bianco, is a child prodigy. In 1921, when Pamela is 14, the New York art world goes mad for her debut exhibition of delicately etched works. Margery soon shares the limelight with her daughter when her beloved children's classic, The Velveteen Rabbit, is published in 1922. Behind the scenes, Pamela fights mental illness for much of her life, a battle triggered by her unrequited love for Diccon, aka author Richard Hughes (A High Wind in Jamaica), and pressure from her father to focus on greater works of art and abandon the children's illustrations she loves. (A joint mother/daughter book, The Skin Horse, was published in 1927.) The alternating narratives, told over the course of 33 years and enhanced by photographs and pictures of Pamela's work, is a masterpiece. In a story as exquisitely wrought as Pamela's intricate line drawings, debut novelist Huber brings to life the challenges of childhood genius, the glittering world of the creative arts in the decades leading up to World War II and beyond, the devastation of mental illness, and the power of unwavering parental love. VERDICT Incandescent, pitch-perfect, and destined for greatness.-Beth Andersen, formerly with Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.