Biography of Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909)

Sarah Orne Jewett was born in Maine on September 3, 1849, to Dr. Theodore Harmon Jewett, a country doctor, and Caroline Frances Jewett (née Perry).

Jewett was born into a family well established in New England society. She enjoyed a relaxed childhood, challenged by illness but lifted by her frequent journeys into the countryside and visits with her father around the district. Her experiences at this time inspired her 1884 novel, A Country Doctor. Jewett developed a keen sense of observation and quickly established herself as what was known as a local color writer. She became a published writer in 1868 when Atlantic Monthly accepted her story, “Mr. Bruce.” She was only 19 at the time.

Another American female writer, Harriet Beecher Stowe, influenced Jewett. It is said that Stowe’s 1862 novel The Pearl of Orr’s Island was a source of inspiration for Jewett’s stories and novels. In turn, Jewett was a mentor and muse for Willa Cather, whose 1913 novel, O Pioneers!, was dedicated to Jewett.

Jewett never married, instead supporting herself financially. This option for women had become more possible in the social climate of nineteenth-century America. She had a close relationship with the writer Annie Fields, widow of the Editor of the Atlantic Monthly, James Thomas Fields. As kindred spirits, and perhaps soul mates, Jewett and Fields travelled extensively in literary circles. It is possible that their friendship would be categorized as a lesbian relationship by today’s terms, and has been cited as an example of a “Boston Marriage,” a relationship in which women were able to live and support each other without male influence. However their union is described, it was certainly a situation in which Jewett’s creativity and flair could flourish.

Sarah Orne Jewett died on June 24, 1909, after suffering a stroke. She had been paralyzed in an accident seven years before and had practically given up writing due to enduring constant pain.