Anna Katharine Green
| Anna Katharine Green | |
|---|---|
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| Born | November 11, 1846 Brooklyn |
| Died | April 11, 1935 (aged 88) Buffalo, New York |
Anna Katharine Green (November 11, 1846 – April 11, 1935) was an American poet and novelist. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories.[1]
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[edit] Life and work
She was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 11, 1846.[1]
Green had an early ambition to write romantic verse, and she corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson. When her poetry failed to gain recognition, she produced her first and best known novel, The Leavenworth Case (1878), praised by Wilkie Collins, and the hit of the year. She became a bestselling author, eventually publishing about 40 books.
She is credited with shaping detective fiction into its classic form, and developing the series detective. Her main character was detective Ebenezer Gryce of the New York Metropolitan Police Force, but in three novels he is assisted by the nosy society spinster Amelia Butterworth, the prototype for Miss Marple, Miss Silver and other creations. She also invented the 'girl detective': in the character of Violet Strange, a debutante with a secret life as a sleuth.
Green was in some ways a progressive woman for her time—succeeding in a genre dominated by male writers—but she did not approve of many of her feminist contemporaries, and she was opposed to women's suffrage.
On November 25, 1884, Green married the actor and stove designer, and later furniture maker, Charles Rohlfs, who was seven years her junior.[2]
Rohlfs toured in a dramatization of Green's The Leavenworth Case. After his theater career faltered, he became a furniture maker in 1897, and Green collaborated with him on some of his designs.
They had one daughter and two sons: Roland Rohlfs and Sterling Rohlfs, who were test pilots.
Green died on April 11, 1935 in Buffalo, New York, at the age of 88.[1]
[edit] Selected works
- The Leavenworth Case (1878) [1]
- A Strange Disappearance (1880)
- Hand and Ring (1883)
- Behind Closed Doors (1888)
- Forsaken Inn (1890)
- Marked "Personal" (1893)
- The Doctor, His Wife, and the Clock (1895)
- The Affair Next Door (1897)
- Lost Man's Lane (1898)
- The Circular Study (1900)
- The Filigree Ball (1903)
- The House in the Mist (1905)
- The Millionaire Baby (1905)
- The Woman in the Alcove (1906)
- The House of the Whispering Pines (1910)
- Initials Only (1911)
- The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow (1917)
- The Step on the Stair (1923)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d A. K. Green Dies.. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F60617FA395D13728DDDAB0994DC405B858FF1D3. "Noted Author, 88. 'The Leavenworth Case' in '78 Followed by 36 Other Books. Wife of Charles Rohlfs. Wanted to Write Poetry. Wrote Detective Stories to Draw Attention to Her Verse. Changed Mystery Fiction"
- ^ "Charles Rohlfs, Designer, is Dead". New York Times. July 1, 1936. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FA0B11FB3854147B93C3A9178CD85F428385F9. "Manufacturer, 83, Is Credited With Having Originated Mission Furniture. Began Career on Stage. Starred in Mystery Drama Taken From Novel by Wife Anna Katharine Green"
[edit] Further reading
- Maida, Patricia D. (1989) Mother of Detective Fiction: the life and works of Anna Katherine Green Bowling Green State University Popular Press.
- Murch, Alma (1958) The Development of the Detective Novel P. Owen, London.
- Landrum, Larry (1999) American Mystery and Detective Novels: a reference guide Greenwood Press, Westport CT.
[edit] External links
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Wikisource has original works written by or about: Anna Katharine Green |
