Women's Wednesday: Phyllis A. Whitney

The day of celebrating women writers and women in literature. *****

Phyllis Ayame Whitney 1903-2008

It's double whammy week. I reviewed Phyllis A. Whitney's book Guide to Fiction Writing yesterday, so I thought I would focus on her for this week's woman writer. I first discovered Phyllis A. Whitney in the third grade when I bought The Haunted Pool from the Scholastic book club at school. Followed was a life long love of this author. She wrote books for girls - American girls visiting far away places, but she also wrote books for women. Mysteries, coming of age, romantic suspense, gothic, historical fiction, contemporary fiction, and even books that broke ground. I have quite a collection of her work. Not every book but I'm always on the lookout.

Phyllis the daughter of Americans was born in Japan and lived in different parts of Asia before moving to the states as a teenager. She eventually moved to Chicago, got an education, got married and had a child, traveled around the world, was a children's book editor, taught writing at a university, wrote over 70 novels and died at a 104. Looks to me like there's something to be said about being a writer. They live to be over a hundred. Beverly Cleary is still alive right now and she's 104. Whitney almost always wrote in first person, which is the style I prefer and am most comfortable with. Come to think of it, she may have been the first author I ever read in first perso

n. Her stories were set in different places throughout the world,

Published 1941

the settings being as much a part of the story as her characters. The protagonist was always a woman in her twenties or early thirties, or a teenage girl. None of her books were parts of series. They were all stand alones, each time with brand new characters. Now, she would be encouraged to write a series, but at the time that she was writing, series were the exception, not the rule. Her first book, A Place For Ann was published in 1941 beginning a long and prolific career. The story is about a teenage girl, who with her friends sets up a service business. They walk dogs, babysit, do household chores and whatever the client wants. To me this sounds like it could turn into something dangerous. But I haven't read the book so I can't say what happens. I've never even seen the book. Those early books of hers are elusive. This book begins her "career girl" phase.

Published 1960. Reprint cover 1970.

Mystery of the Haunted Pool won the Edgar Alan Poe award for best children's mystery of 1961. I still have my copy although I don't remember the story. Just that it involved a girl, a mystery, and a haunted pool. I should read it again. Willow Hill tackled the problems of racism in 1947 America from the perspective of a teenage girl whose world changes when a low income housing development is built and now the high school has an influx of black students. Whitney says about this book, "I'd have written that book if it sold or not". Even though the book was written in the 40's, sadly it is still pertains to a current problem.

Published 1955. 1971 Cover

The Quicksilver Pool was the first of her adult books. A civil war novel inspired by the history of where Whitney was living on Stanton Island, it was rejected by her book editors who had been publishing her youth novels, and she had to find a new publisher. It was published in 1955, and judging by how many book covers I found on this one, it's been published several times since, including a fresh cover now. She was known from then on for her gothic novels, although she didn't like the label. She preferred calling it "romantic suspense".

Published 1947. Reprint cover 1975.

Her last book published in 1997 when she was 94 years old, was Amethyst Dreams, the story of a young woman lured into a dark mystery at a seaside paradise.

Judging by Amazon, she is still gathering new readers as many of her book titles have brand new covers and reviews. Although any of her books would make good movies, that has not happened yet, nor was I able to find documentaries or movies about her life. How many books do you need to write to get that kind of attention?

For a list of her books and a biography, you can visit Book Series In Order: Phyllis A. Whitney If you like clean romance, gothic suspense, mystery, and far away places, then you just might like Whitney. Most of her work is contemporary, so it helps to look at the first publishing date on the book so that you get as sense of the time it takes place.