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Had She but Known: A Biography of Mary Roberts Rinehart
The life of America's first best-selling suspense novelist and playwright is presented in full detail, from Rinehart's role as a World War I trench reporter to her fascination with native American culture. National ad/promo.
335 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Charlotte MacLeod
94 books260 followersNaturalized US Citizen
Also wrote as Alisa Craig
Charlotte MacLeod, born in New Brunswick, Canada, and a naturalized U.S. citizen, was the multi-award-winning author of over thirty acclaimed novels. Her series featuring detective Professor Peter Shandy, America's homegrown Hercule Poirot, delivers "generous dollops of...warmth, wit, and whimsy" (San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle). But fully a dozen novels star her popular husband-and-wife team of Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn. And her native Canada provides a backdrop for the amusing Grub-and-Stakers cozies written under the pseudonym Alisa Craig and the almost-police procedurals starring Madoc Rhys, RCMP. A cofounder and past president of the American Crime Writers League, she also edited the bestselling anthologies Mistletoe Mysteries and Christmas Stalkings.
Also wrote as Alisa Craig
Charlotte MacLeod, born in New Brunswick, Canada, and a naturalized U.S. citizen, was the multi-award-winning author of over thirty acclaimed novels. Her series featuring detective Professor Peter Shandy, America's homegrown Hercule Poirot, delivers "generous dollops of...warmth, wit, and whimsy" (San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle). But fully a dozen novels star her popular husband-and-wife team of Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn. And her native Canada provides a backdrop for the amusing Grub-and-Stakers cozies written under the pseudonym Alisa Craig and the almost-police procedurals starring Madoc Rhys, RCMP. A cofounder and past president of the American Crime Writers League, she also edited the bestselling anthologies Mistletoe Mysteries and Christmas Stalkings.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 25, 2017
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: Before Agatha Christie, there was America’s Mistress of Mystery. This is the story of her life and creative legacy, from the butler who did it to Batman.
In the decades since her death in 1958, master storyteller Mary Roberts Rinehart has often been compared to Agatha Christie. But while Rinehart was once a household name, today she is largely forgotten. The woman who first proclaimed “the butler did it” was writing for publication years before Christie’s work saw the light of day. She also practiced nursing, became a war correspondent, and wrote a novel—The Bat—that inspired Bob Kane’s creation of Batman.
Born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, before it was absorbed into Pittsburgh, and raised in a close-knit Presbyterian family, Mary Roberts was at once a girl of her time—dutiful, God-fearing, loyal—and a quietly rebellious spirit. For every hour she spent cooking, cleaning, or sewing at her mother’s behest while her “frail” younger sister had fun, Mary eked out her own moments of planning, dreaming, and writing. But becoming an author wasn’t on her radar . . . yet.
Bestselling mystery writer Charlotte MacLeod grew up on Rinehart’s artfully crafted novels, such as the enormously successful The Circular Staircase—“cozies” before the concept existed. After years of seeing Christie celebrated and Rinehart overlooked, MacLeod realized that it was time to delve into how this seemingly ordinary woman became a sensation whose work would grace print, stage, and screen. From Rinehart’s grueling training as a nurse and her wartime interviews with a young Winston Churchill and Queen Mary to her involvement with the Blackfoot Indians and her work as doctor’s wife, mother of three, playwright, serialist, and novelist, this is the unforgettable story of America’s Grande Dame of Mystery.
My Review: I don't suppose knowing who Mary Roberts Rinehart is is as common as it used to be. She was the American doyenne of mystery writers for about 40 years, her books were serialized in The Saturday Evening Post, she lived a glamourous Republican life and never ever stopped writing until age forced her to. She was seventy-seven when her last book was published!
This book, by fellow mystery writer Charlotte MacLeod, was published in 1994. Even then, close to twenty years ago, MacLeod was amazed and impressed that Rinehart's mysteries were still being read. (Me too!) And they're even still being republished every so often. My local library system has most of the titles in it, and all but two of them were checked out last time I looked. (I then checked out the two that weren't already gone.) The plots and characters are simply timeless, which also means that they're not overly fresh; but hey! Neither are Dame Agatha's.
Most of the book's effort is spent on Mary's early years, as a daughter, wife, and mother. The reason is that another biographer took care of the widow and doyenne years in detail. This focus on the time that Mary spent as a student nurse, the Covenanter (a species of Presbyterian without the joie de vivre for which these folk are known) wife of an up-and-coming surgeon and tuberculosis expert, and then the primary breadwinner of the household after her husband developed crippling rheumatoid arthritis in his hands. With contracts for her serials running $50,000 and up in the 1920s, she was doin' them all proud.
Mary's life with her husband, Stanley Rinehart, was apparently a lot of fun. They traveled, they entertained, they made the lives of their three sons very happy...they were each strong personalities, so no doubt there were problems, but they were able to solve them and stay more or less happily married for thirty-six years. Impressive in any day and age, given their natures. Mary's travel articles show the fun side of the relationship clearly, They were collected into books, of course, as was Mary's WWI reportage, and all are really worth reading.
Charlotte MacLeod's chops were honed in the mystery tradition that Rinehart helped pioneer. She writes pleasingly and engagingly about her subject. And best of all, she makes one care about the life of this long-dead entertainer of a bygone era. It somehow matters to the reader that Mary's plays, with one notable exception in The Bat, were complete flops; that Mary suffered agonies of self-doubt about life's goodness to her; that her mother and father were so disappointingly inept.
All writers should have as biographers the writers they themselves inspire. It makes for a top-notch reading experience.
The Publisher Says: Before Agatha Christie, there was America’s Mistress of Mystery. This is the story of her life and creative legacy, from the butler who did it to Batman.
In the decades since her death in 1958, master storyteller Mary Roberts Rinehart has often been compared to Agatha Christie. But while Rinehart was once a household name, today she is largely forgotten. The woman who first proclaimed “the butler did it” was writing for publication years before Christie’s work saw the light of day. She also practiced nursing, became a war correspondent, and wrote a novel—The Bat—that inspired Bob Kane’s creation of Batman.
Born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, before it was absorbed into Pittsburgh, and raised in a close-knit Presbyterian family, Mary Roberts was at once a girl of her time—dutiful, God-fearing, loyal—and a quietly rebellious spirit. For every hour she spent cooking, cleaning, or sewing at her mother’s behest while her “frail” younger sister had fun, Mary eked out her own moments of planning, dreaming, and writing. But becoming an author wasn’t on her radar . . . yet.
Bestselling mystery writer Charlotte MacLeod grew up on Rinehart’s artfully crafted novels, such as the enormously successful The Circular Staircase—“cozies” before the concept existed. After years of seeing Christie celebrated and Rinehart overlooked, MacLeod realized that it was time to delve into how this seemingly ordinary woman became a sensation whose work would grace print, stage, and screen. From Rinehart’s grueling training as a nurse and her wartime interviews with a young Winston Churchill and Queen Mary to her involvement with the Blackfoot Indians and her work as doctor’s wife, mother of three, playwright, serialist, and novelist, this is the unforgettable story of America’s Grande Dame of Mystery.
My Review: I don't suppose knowing who Mary Roberts Rinehart is is as common as it used to be. She was the American doyenne of mystery writers for about 40 years, her books were serialized in The Saturday Evening Post, she lived a glamourous Republican life and never ever stopped writing until age forced her to. She was seventy-seven when her last book was published!
This book, by fellow mystery writer Charlotte MacLeod, was published in 1994. Even then, close to twenty years ago, MacLeod was amazed and impressed that Rinehart's mysteries were still being read. (Me too!) And they're even still being republished every so often. My local library system has most of the titles in it, and all but two of them were checked out last time I looked. (I then checked out the two that weren't already gone.) The plots and characters are simply timeless, which also means that they're not overly fresh; but hey! Neither are Dame Agatha's.
Most of the book's effort is spent on Mary's early years, as a daughter, wife, and mother. The reason is that another biographer took care of the widow and doyenne years in detail. This focus on the time that Mary spent as a student nurse, the Covenanter (a species of Presbyterian without the joie de vivre for which these folk are known) wife of an up-and-coming surgeon and tuberculosis expert, and then the primary breadwinner of the household after her husband developed crippling rheumatoid arthritis in his hands. With contracts for her serials running $50,000 and up in the 1920s, she was doin' them all proud.
Mary's life with her husband, Stanley Rinehart, was apparently a lot of fun. They traveled, they entertained, they made the lives of their three sons very happy...they were each strong personalities, so no doubt there were problems, but they were able to solve them and stay more or less happily married for thirty-six years. Impressive in any day and age, given their natures. Mary's travel articles show the fun side of the relationship clearly, They were collected into books, of course, as was Mary's WWI reportage, and all are really worth reading.
Charlotte MacLeod's chops were honed in the mystery tradition that Rinehart helped pioneer. She writes pleasingly and engagingly about her subject. And best of all, she makes one care about the life of this long-dead entertainer of a bygone era. It somehow matters to the reader that Mary's plays, with one notable exception in The Bat, were complete flops; that Mary suffered agonies of self-doubt about life's goodness to her; that her mother and father were so disappointingly inept.
All writers should have as biographers the writers they themselves inspire. It makes for a top-notch reading experience.
November 29, 2016
This is a very engaging read. I had a hard time putting it down. She was quite a lady and MacLeod managed to catch some of her energy and spirit in this fun biography. It almost has a tongue-in-cheek feel that made for a very light enjoyable read.
What a career she had! It was very interesting to learn what was going on in her life around some of her best-selling works.
It was very delicately done. As a nurse, she treated many disreputable people, but it was handled very carefully. Still, there were a couple of sections that were definitely for adults.
This is the only biography, though, that I’ve ever had the feeling that just maybe the author was inserting her own opinions in an attempt to make the subject, Rinehart, think or feel the way she wanted her to. For example take this quote from the book, “These protestations might have been thrown in as sops to the mores of the time during which she wrote, when a married woman’s place was still considered to be in the home. Then again, Mary may have been telling the simple truth.” That’s the kind of statement that crops up every now and then. It left me feeling that maybe MacLeod wanted her to be more of a feminist than she was… Anyway, it made me think I should be taking some of it with a grain of salt.
I also learned just how poor my vocabulary is. I don’t know how many times I had to look up a word. It got a bit tiresome after a while. I like a book that stretches me, but that happened so often that it distracted me from what was happening in Rinehart’s story and focused me on the writing itself. For example, “…with cattle still being driven through the streets to the abattoir, the streets could hardly be called pristine…” I wasn’t looking for a literary masterpiece just a biography. I did learn some new words, though.
A great deal of time is spent complaining about her Grandmother and her Grandmother’s God. There are a number of very irreverent passages. If that was Rinehart’s true views it was really disheartening. Then there were those supernatural occurrences... MacLeod doesn't way in one way or another on those, but as a Christian, I have a very definite opinion as to what was really going on.
She was a very interesting lady, and this is a very good introduction.
Thanks to NetGalley and Open Road Integrated Media for the free ARC to read and review.
What a career she had! It was very interesting to learn what was going on in her life around some of her best-selling works.
It was very delicately done. As a nurse, she treated many disreputable people, but it was handled very carefully. Still, there were a couple of sections that were definitely for adults.
This is the only biography, though, that I’ve ever had the feeling that just maybe the author was inserting her own opinions in an attempt to make the subject, Rinehart, think or feel the way she wanted her to. For example take this quote from the book, “These protestations might have been thrown in as sops to the mores of the time during which she wrote, when a married woman’s place was still considered to be in the home. Then again, Mary may have been telling the simple truth.” That’s the kind of statement that crops up every now and then. It left me feeling that maybe MacLeod wanted her to be more of a feminist than she was… Anyway, it made me think I should be taking some of it with a grain of salt.
I also learned just how poor my vocabulary is. I don’t know how many times I had to look up a word. It got a bit tiresome after a while. I like a book that stretches me, but that happened so often that it distracted me from what was happening in Rinehart’s story and focused me on the writing itself. For example, “…with cattle still being driven through the streets to the abattoir, the streets could hardly be called pristine…” I wasn’t looking for a literary masterpiece just a biography. I did learn some new words, though.
A great deal of time is spent complaining about her Grandmother and her Grandmother’s God. There are a number of very irreverent passages. If that was Rinehart’s true views it was really disheartening. Then there were those supernatural occurrences... MacLeod doesn't way in one way or another on those, but as a Christian, I have a very definite opinion as to what was really going on.
She was a very interesting lady, and this is a very good introduction.
Thanks to NetGalley and Open Road Integrated Media for the free ARC to read and review.
April 20, 2020
Had I but known who Charlotte MacLeod is, I probably wouldn't have chosen this book. I didn't realise she also writes under the pseudonym Alisa Craig. I had the misfortune this past summer to read the first book of the "Grub-and-Stakers" series and it was without question one of the worst "cosy mysteries" I have ever read--and I've read many in my time.
MacLeod claims to have interviewed descendants and authorities on Rinehart's life extensively; perhaps that is why there isn't a single footnote, not one scrap of documentation, not one source cited anywhere. We're just meant to take her at her word. At least she admits to cannibalising a previous biography written by someone else.
As for this book, the narration in the first part is scrappy in the extreme. The biographer is far too obtrusive, giving opinions and interpreting events to fit her own idea of the person the subject should have been, and as the book continues, being extremely catty--almost as if she didn't like her subject very much. Not the first time I've come across this in a biographer, but never pleasant, and hardly necessary. She describes Mary's first engagement ring as "the ugliest stone there was"--unless this is a record of Mary's own reaction, it is the biographer's, and seriously out of place. Of course there is no footnote. The biographer also says that Mary doted on her husband, only to continue: "At least she said she did, and perhaps she believed it." Meow, dear. I'll put this saucer of milk down where you can get to it, shall I?
MacLeod could also have done with a much better proofreader/editor than she obviously had. Her use of language is very odd at times, as when the Rineharts visit The Bluff "for the last and final time" or give a nickname "for the most reasonable of reasons." Ouch. I might have been able to pass that over, but for a 21st century woman to describe another woman's struggle through the menopause as being mostly rooted in "hysteria"--!! Characters are mentioned with nothing to say where they came from; for example, when the family leaves Vienna we are told they said goodbye to the landlady and porter at the pension they had lived in for months, "and their neighbour the Serbian spy." Where did he come from? How does MacLeod he was a spy? We'll never know, as this is the first and only time he is mentioned. MacLeod, a Canadian born and bred, can't resist the temptation to puff the brave Canadian soldiers of WW1 at every possible opportunity, whether it fits or not--and mostly it doesn't, but that doesn't stop our intrepid intrusive biographer. After a long and dusty trip in an open touring car, Mrs Rinehart suffers from severe irritation of the eyes. We are told that this was cured by "bed rest and a milk diet." Bed rest in a darkened room for irritated eyes I can understand, having had recourse to it myself--but what would a milk diet achieve? Don't expect MacLeod to explain. In Chapter 1 she tells us that on several occasions Rinehart drove herself "until she collapsed and had to have another operation". However, later in the book we discover that the various surgeries the writer underwent were for things like breast cancer, a broken rib and appendicitis, not exhaustion. The biographer also gives far too much page-time to the supposed hauntings in various houses and rooms lived in by the Rineharts. Were they attracted by her disabled mother? MacLeod would lead us to believe so, until after the mother's strange death, when the hauntings, we are told, went on. Sigh.
Three stars because of the information about Rinehart's life and work. For the writing, two.
MacLeod claims to have interviewed descendants and authorities on Rinehart's life extensively; perhaps that is why there isn't a single footnote, not one scrap of documentation, not one source cited anywhere. We're just meant to take her at her word. At least she admits to cannibalising a previous biography written by someone else.
As for this book, the narration in the first part is scrappy in the extreme. The biographer is far too obtrusive, giving opinions and interpreting events to fit her own idea of the person the subject should have been, and as the book continues, being extremely catty--almost as if she didn't like her subject very much. Not the first time I've come across this in a biographer, but never pleasant, and hardly necessary. She describes Mary's first engagement ring as "the ugliest stone there was"--unless this is a record of Mary's own reaction, it is the biographer's, and seriously out of place. Of course there is no footnote. The biographer also says that Mary doted on her husband, only to continue: "At least she said she did, and perhaps she believed it." Meow, dear. I'll put this saucer of milk down where you can get to it, shall I?
MacLeod could also have done with a much better proofreader/editor than she obviously had. Her use of language is very odd at times, as when the Rineharts visit The Bluff "for the last and final time" or give a nickname "for the most reasonable of reasons." Ouch. I might have been able to pass that over, but for a 21st century woman to describe another woman's struggle through the menopause as being mostly rooted in "hysteria"--!! Characters are mentioned with nothing to say where they came from; for example, when the family leaves Vienna we are told they said goodbye to the landlady and porter at the pension they had lived in for months, "and their neighbour the Serbian spy." Where did he come from? How does MacLeod he was a spy? We'll never know, as this is the first and only time he is mentioned. MacLeod, a Canadian born and bred, can't resist the temptation to puff the brave Canadian soldiers of WW1 at every possible opportunity, whether it fits or not--and mostly it doesn't, but that doesn't stop our intrepid intrusive biographer. After a long and dusty trip in an open touring car, Mrs Rinehart suffers from severe irritation of the eyes. We are told that this was cured by "bed rest and a milk diet." Bed rest in a darkened room for irritated eyes I can understand, having had recourse to it myself--but what would a milk diet achieve? Don't expect MacLeod to explain. In Chapter 1 she tells us that on several occasions Rinehart drove herself "until she collapsed and had to have another operation". However, later in the book we discover that the various surgeries the writer underwent were for things like breast cancer, a broken rib and appendicitis, not exhaustion. The biographer also gives far too much page-time to the supposed hauntings in various houses and rooms lived in by the Rineharts. Were they attracted by her disabled mother? MacLeod would lead us to believe so, until after the mother's strange death, when the hauntings, we are told, went on. Sigh.
Three stars because of the information about Rinehart's life and work. For the writing, two.
December 20, 2011
Mrs. Rinehart was an incredible woman who lived her life beyond the restrictions for a woman in her day. This biography was an easy read and opened my eyes up to how incredible this author was. I loved reading her books as a child and as I find copies of her titles now I enjoy reading them again. If you have enjoyed the books by Mary Roberts Rinehart you owe it to your self to read this biography.
August 26, 2019
A bit too detailed in parts while skimming through others, with an average amount of knowledgeable supposition. The author's biases come across too strong for my taste, but any fan of Mary Roberts Rinehart should find this an interesting read. (Unfortunately I was just tired of reading this book by the time the last page was turned.)
July 18, 2017
I don't think it will come as a surprise that when a friend of mine pointed out a cheap copy of this book, that I jumped at the chance to read a biography of Mary Roberts Rinehart. For those of you who don't know, next to Agatha Christie, Mary Roberts Rinehart is my second favorite mystery writer of all time. I never heard of her until Yvette of in so many words... did a review of The Circular Staircase. While reading her review, the plot sounded really familiar to me, and I quickly learned that one of my favorite movies, The Bat starring Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead, was actually based off of a Rinehart novel. Actually, the movie is an adaptation of the The Bat, which was a novelization of a play of the same name, which was actually based off of The Circular Staircase. After that little discovery, I was hooked. I've since read and reviewed twenty-three of her books, and while I like some more than others, I would take them all over a lot of the "cozy" stuff being written today.
When I first started to delve into Had She But Known, which by the way is named after a major plot device used by Rinehart, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. The affection and admiration Charlotte MacLeod had for her subject was obvious from the start, almost too obvious. I understand that, for the most part, if someone is going to take the time to write a biography of someone else, that they are going to have to respect the subject, otherwise the writing would be a horrible experience. However, there should also be distance and objectivity between the writer and the subject, otherwise it can cloud the information coming across. If I can't trust you to be objective, how can I trust the information being given? Her admiration comes across too much, especially in the beginning, and just could have done without her commenting on the worth of individual Rinehart books. The language got too flowery and flattering at times, but thankfully I plowed through and I ended up loving the book.
What saved it for me was my own love for the subject. This is a writer whose work I enjoy so much, how could I not love exploring her life in far more detail than I ever had before. And what I discovered only heightened that admiration. From the way she handled herself as an overseas war correspondent during WWI, to the scrappy determination to do whatever it took to take care of her husband and three sons, I discovered a woman worthy of the admiration and respect Charlotte MacLeod so obviously heaped on her. It was interesting to read how some of my favorite novels came about, even the ones MacLeod didn't share my views of. It's hard to believe the speed at which some of these had been written, given the complexities of the plots.
Mary Roberts Rinehart became a household name in her day. From her exploits with Theodore Roosevelt, to her advocating for Indigenous tribes, to becoming one of the highest paid authors of her time, she did everything with a style all her own, and I wish that she somehow regains the popularity she enjoyed so long ago.
When I first started to delve into Had She But Known, which by the way is named after a major plot device used by Rinehart, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. The affection and admiration Charlotte MacLeod had for her subject was obvious from the start, almost too obvious. I understand that, for the most part, if someone is going to take the time to write a biography of someone else, that they are going to have to respect the subject, otherwise the writing would be a horrible experience. However, there should also be distance and objectivity between the writer and the subject, otherwise it can cloud the information coming across. If I can't trust you to be objective, how can I trust the information being given? Her admiration comes across too much, especially in the beginning, and just could have done without her commenting on the worth of individual Rinehart books. The language got too flowery and flattering at times, but thankfully I plowed through and I ended up loving the book.
What saved it for me was my own love for the subject. This is a writer whose work I enjoy so much, how could I not love exploring her life in far more detail than I ever had before. And what I discovered only heightened that admiration. From the way she handled herself as an overseas war correspondent during WWI, to the scrappy determination to do whatever it took to take care of her husband and three sons, I discovered a woman worthy of the admiration and respect Charlotte MacLeod so obviously heaped on her. It was interesting to read how some of my favorite novels came about, even the ones MacLeod didn't share my views of. It's hard to believe the speed at which some of these had been written, given the complexities of the plots.
Mary Roberts Rinehart became a household name in her day. From her exploits with Theodore Roosevelt, to her advocating for Indigenous tribes, to becoming one of the highest paid authors of her time, she did everything with a style all her own, and I wish that she somehow regains the popularity she enjoyed so long ago.
February 9, 2019
Had She But Known
by Charlotte MacLeod
Open Road Integrated Media
Biographies & Memoirs , Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 06 Dec 2016
I am reviewing a copy of Had She But Known Through Open Road Integrated Media and Netgalley:
Before Agatha Christie was America’s Mistress of Mystery.
Since her death in 1958, master storyteller. Mary Roberts Rineheart has often been compared to Agatha Christie. Although Rineheart was once a household name, today many have forgotten her. Mary amRoberts Rhineheart was the first one to tell readers “The butler did it.”
Mary Roberts Rhineheart was writing for publication long before Agatha Christie’s work ever saw the light of day. Rineheart also worked as a war correspondent as well as worked as a nurse and write a novel called The Bat which inspired Bob Kane’s creation of Batman.
Mary Roberts was born in Allegheny City Pittsburgh before it became part of Pittsburgh where she was raised by a close knit Presbyterian family. Mary Roberts was a girl of her time, dutiful, God fearing and loyal but she also had a rebellious spirit that would eventually lead her into a career as a renowned Mystery author.
I give Had She But Known five out of five stars!
by Charlotte MacLeod
Open Road Integrated Media
Biographies & Memoirs , Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 06 Dec 2016
I am reviewing a copy of Had She But Known Through Open Road Integrated Media and Netgalley:
Before Agatha Christie was America’s Mistress of Mystery.
Since her death in 1958, master storyteller. Mary Roberts Rineheart has often been compared to Agatha Christie. Although Rineheart was once a household name, today many have forgotten her. Mary amRoberts Rhineheart was the first one to tell readers “The butler did it.”
Mary Roberts Rhineheart was writing for publication long before Agatha Christie’s work ever saw the light of day. Rineheart also worked as a war correspondent as well as worked as a nurse and write a novel called The Bat which inspired Bob Kane’s creation of Batman.
Mary Roberts was born in Allegheny City Pittsburgh before it became part of Pittsburgh where she was raised by a close knit Presbyterian family. Mary Roberts was a girl of her time, dutiful, God fearing and loyal but she also had a rebellious spirit that would eventually lead her into a career as a renowned Mystery author.
I give Had She But Known five out of five stars!
February 9, 2020
The life and times of Mary Roberts Rinehart unfolds in a breezy, extemporaneous voice that lends itself to a fast-paced and engaging read. Although best known for her mysteries, Mary Roberts Rinehart penned novels, essays, travelogues and her own autobiography, My Story.
Born in Allegheny City in 1876, Mary’s long life was not without its peaks and valleys. Spirited, adventurous, loyal to her family, blessed with a keen eye for observing the human condition paired with a wry sense of humor, all of which shaped the oeuvre of her writing. Despite episodes of embellished prose, this biography is a solid choice for the reader who wants to know the person behind the tag, Mary Roberts Rinehart, “mystery writer”.
Born in Allegheny City in 1876, Mary’s long life was not without its peaks and valleys. Spirited, adventurous, loyal to her family, blessed with a keen eye for observing the human condition paired with a wry sense of humor, all of which shaped the oeuvre of her writing. Despite episodes of embellished prose, this biography is a solid choice for the reader who wants to know the person behind the tag, Mary Roberts Rinehart, “mystery writer”.
September 5, 2020
Early Bird Book Deal | Very interesting | I've read both Rinehart and MacLeod, and knew a little of the fascinating life of the former, so snapped this up when it was discounted. I can't get across how unusual and interesting Rinehart was, to even begin to explain her would necessarily leave out so much. My only real complaint here is that the timeline is hard to follow. MacLeod would tell about a 1914 trip to Europe, ending with events in 1917, then start talking about things the family had done in the States in 1915. It's impossible to tell if these issues were typos, or if multiple trips were presented as one long trip, but there were several times in the book that I'd flip back, trying to figure out when things were happening, only to give up because it was too hard to figure out.
March 20, 2017
My initial interest in this book is that I have read many of Mary Roberts Rinehart's book, and I live near many of the settings of her life. I had no idea of all that this woman accomplished in addition to writing books. Her early life is fairly typical for a Pittsburgh family, but Mary keeps overcoming all the obstacles in her way. He goes to nursing school, marries and doctor and has 3 sons, facing down financial struggles and ill health along the way. And there's more, much more, but I just say WOW to all that this woman accomplished.
A very interesting and compelling read for a woman who deserves recognition as both a writer and inspirational figure.
I received this book in return for an unbiased review from Net Galley.
A very interesting and compelling read for a woman who deserves recognition as both a writer and inspirational figure.
I received this book in return for an unbiased review from Net Galley.
November 15, 2020
A very readable biography of a woman who not only accomplished a great deal, but had a shocking quantity of things happen to her (hauntings! Attempted murders! Royal visits! One time she found a foot in a bucket!). What a busy life!
Read
January 25, 2020Birthday gift from Jennifer LaCivita -1996
August 18, 2020
An interesting look into the life of an author I enjoying all over again!
December 11, 2016
Although I've read few mystery novels, for some reason I like to read about the lives of early 20th century mystery writers. I had never heard of Mary Roberts Rinehart, but she was obviously quite famous in her day, and she shared some life similarities with Arthur Conan Doyle. One similarity being her first career was in the medical field. She trained as a nurse, and there is some graphic nursing details in the first part of the book. There's also graphic war descriptions later on in the second half of the book, when she went to Europe during World War I as a war correspondent. Not things I particularly wanted to read about in a biography of a mystery writer, but it all demonstrated what an exceptional life Mrs. Rinehart had for a woman of her time. Add to that, she traveled quite a bit, and was a most dedicated wife to her physician husband and mother to her three sons. Where did she find the time to write? She apparently always found the time, and I only wish there had been more detailed description in this book about her writings and writing methods.
(Note: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.)
(Note: I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.)
January 27, 2017
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.
I have read a lot of mysteries by Mary Roberts Rinehart and I have read a lot of mysteries by Charlotte MacLeod. Therefore, this book seemed like a logical choice. MacLeod writes in a chatty, easy to read style. Her fondness for MRR and for her books comes through clearly. I read this quickly and was thoroughly engaged throughout. MRR was a fascinating woman. I obviously knew she was a writer but I didn't know as much about the rest of her life. She was a mother, a wife, a nurse, a wartime correspondent, a columnist, a playwright, the list just goes on and on. She was a bestselling author and in many ways, a woman ahead of her time. She was opinionated and independent and I think she would have been a lot of fun to know.
I enjoyed this biography and think even someone who has never read MRR's books would enjoy it as well. The section on her time as a war correspondent was particularly fascinating. She wrote a book about that time that I will have to see if I can find.
I have read a lot of mysteries by Mary Roberts Rinehart and I have read a lot of mysteries by Charlotte MacLeod. Therefore, this book seemed like a logical choice. MacLeod writes in a chatty, easy to read style. Her fondness for MRR and for her books comes through clearly. I read this quickly and was thoroughly engaged throughout. MRR was a fascinating woman. I obviously knew she was a writer but I didn't know as much about the rest of her life. She was a mother, a wife, a nurse, a wartime correspondent, a columnist, a playwright, the list just goes on and on. She was a bestselling author and in many ways, a woman ahead of her time. She was opinionated and independent and I think she would have been a lot of fun to know.
I enjoyed this biography and think even someone who has never read MRR's books would enjoy it as well. The section on her time as a war correspondent was particularly fascinating. She wrote a book about that time that I will have to see if I can find.
December 14, 2017
I recently discovered the stories of Mary Roberts Rinehart while searching for classic mysteries in the vein of Agatha Christie. I was fortunate in that my first experience was with "The Red Lamp" which is by far the very best of Mrs. Rinehart's efforts. My explorations also introduced me to her comedic side ("Tish") and her sense of the dramatic ("The Amazing Interlude") and showed why Mary Roberts Rinehart became justly famous so many years ago.
I then fortuitously happened upon a copy of "Had She But Known" free for review on Net Galley and was favorably impressed. It is a wonderful overview of Mrs. Rinehart's life, written with humor and grace. I highly recommend it both as an entertaining light read and as a suitable introduction to the life and works of a very remarkable author.
I then fortuitously happened upon a copy of "Had She But Known" free for review on Net Galley and was favorably impressed. It is a wonderful overview of Mrs. Rinehart's life, written with humor and grace. I highly recommend it both as an entertaining light read and as a suitable introduction to the life and works of a very remarkable author.
January 7, 2017
I recently discovered the stories of Mary Roberts Rinehart while searching for classic mysteries in the vein of Agatha Christie. I was fortunate in that my first experience was with "The Red Lamp" which is by far the very best of Mrs. Rinehart's efforts. My explorations also introduced me to her comedic side ("Tish") and her sense of the dramatic ("The Amazing Interlude") and showed why Mary Roberts Rinehart became justly famous so many years ago.
I then fortuitously happened upon a copy of "Had She But Known" free for review on Net Galley and was favorably impressed. It is a wonderful overview of Mrs. Rinehart's life, written with humor and grace. I highly recommend it both as an entertaining light read and as a suitable introduction to the life and works of a very remarkable author.
I then fortuitously happened upon a copy of "Had She But Known" free for review on Net Galley and was favorably impressed. It is a wonderful overview of Mrs. Rinehart's life, written with humor and grace. I highly recommend it both as an entertaining light read and as a suitable introduction to the life and works of a very remarkable author.
own-but-unread
June 17, 2018@LansingLibKS Now I have to decide between Hannibal by Ernle Bradford and this biography for my Summer Reading challenge to "read a biography." The only con for this biography is it's about a hundred pages longer than Hannibal.
February 13, 2014
Mary Roberts Rinehart was an extraordinary woman who grabbed on to life and lived it to the fullest. One of the first great American mystery writers, she deserves to have her work read and her memory honored. Charlotte McLeod was the perfect author to write this grand biography. She obviously admired Rinehart and brings her to life on every page.
August 2, 2016
Breezy, readable biography of a very interesting woman. Never heard of Mrs. Rinehart, but she was a mystery author and journalist of note about a hundred years ago. According the book's author, there is a more detailed and exhaustive biography focusing on Rinehart's writing. This book is meant to be a fun read and cover Rinehart's entire life, and it does that.
June 11, 2008
I like Charlotte Macleod's writing style. Her mystery books make for good light summer reading. However, this biography of one of my other favorite mystery writers is a slightly different style and very enjoyable also.
Want to Read
December 14, 2011r.b. richard
Want to Read
June 8, 2020Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
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