What do you think?
Rate this book
The Whole Family: A Novel by Twelve Authors
A unique novel told in chapters, each one by a different author. The unusual project was conceived by William Dean Howells, an American realist author and literary critic. Howells had hoped Mark Twain would be one of the authors, but Twain did not participate. The twelve authors are: Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews, John Kendrick Bangs, Alice Brown, Mary Stewart Doubleday Cutting, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, William Dean Howells, Henry James, Elizabeth Garver Jordan, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Henry Van Dyke, Mary Heaton Vorse and Edith Wyatt.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1908
13 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
William Dean Howells
1,190 books101 followersWillam Dean Howells (1837-1920) was a novelist, short story writer, magazine editor, and mentor who wrote for various magazines, including the Atlantic Monthly and Harper's Magazine.
In January 1866 James Fields offered him the assistant editor role at the Atlantic Monthly. Howells accepted after successfully negotiating for a higher salary, but was frustrated by Fields's close supervision. Howells was made editor in 1871, remaining in the position until 1881.
In 1869 he first met Mark Twain, which began a longtime friendship. Even more important for the development of his literary style — his advocacy of Realism — was his relationship with the journalist Jonathan Baxter Harrison, who during the 1870s wrote a series of articles for the Atlantic Monthly on the lives of ordinary Americans.
He wrote his first novel, Their Wedding Journey, in 1872, but his literary reputation took off with the realist novel A Modern Instance, published in 1882, which described the decay of a marriage. His 1885 novel The Rise of Silas Lapham is perhaps his best known, describing the rise and fall of an American entrepreneur of the paint business. His social views were also strongly represented in the novels Annie Kilburn (1888), A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890), and An Imperative Duty (1892). He was particularly outraged by the trials resulting from the Haymarket Riot.
His poems were collected during 1873 and 1886, and a volume under the title Stops of Various Quills was published during 1895. He was the initiator of the school of American realists who derived, through the Russians, from Balzac and had little sympathy with any other type of fiction, although he frequently encouraged new writers in whom he discovered new ideas.
Howells also wrote plays, criticism, and essays about contemporary literary figures such as Henrik Ibsen, Émile Zola, Giovanni Verga, Benito Pérez Galdós, and, especially, Leo Tolstoy, which helped establish their reputations in the United States. He also wrote critically in support of American writers Hamlin Garland, Stephen Crane, Emily Dickinson, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charles W. Chesnutt, Abraham Cahan, Madison Cawein,and Frank Norris. It is perhaps in this role that he had his greatest influence. In his "Editor's Study" column at the Atlantic Monthly and, later, at Harper's, he formulated and disseminated his theories of "realism" in literature.
In 1904 he was one of the first seven people chosen for membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, of which he became president.
Howells died in Manhattan on May 11, 1920. He was buried in Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts.
Noting the "documentary" and truthful value of Howells' work, Henry James wrote: "Stroke by stroke and book by book your work was to become, for this exquisite notation of our whole democratic light and shade and give and take, in the highest degree documentary."
In January 1866 James Fields offered him the assistant editor role at the Atlantic Monthly. Howells accepted after successfully negotiating for a higher salary, but was frustrated by Fields's close supervision. Howells was made editor in 1871, remaining in the position until 1881.
In 1869 he first met Mark Twain, which began a longtime friendship. Even more important for the development of his literary style — his advocacy of Realism — was his relationship with the journalist Jonathan Baxter Harrison, who during the 1870s wrote a series of articles for the Atlantic Monthly on the lives of ordinary Americans.
He wrote his first novel, Their Wedding Journey, in 1872, but his literary reputation took off with the realist novel A Modern Instance, published in 1882, which described the decay of a marriage. His 1885 novel The Rise of Silas Lapham is perhaps his best known, describing the rise and fall of an American entrepreneur of the paint business. His social views were also strongly represented in the novels Annie Kilburn (1888), A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890), and An Imperative Duty (1892). He was particularly outraged by the trials resulting from the Haymarket Riot.
His poems were collected during 1873 and 1886, and a volume under the title Stops of Various Quills was published during 1895. He was the initiator of the school of American realists who derived, through the Russians, from Balzac and had little sympathy with any other type of fiction, although he frequently encouraged new writers in whom he discovered new ideas.
Howells also wrote plays, criticism, and essays about contemporary literary figures such as Henrik Ibsen, Émile Zola, Giovanni Verga, Benito Pérez Galdós, and, especially, Leo Tolstoy, which helped establish their reputations in the United States. He also wrote critically in support of American writers Hamlin Garland, Stephen Crane, Emily Dickinson, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charles W. Chesnutt, Abraham Cahan, Madison Cawein,and Frank Norris. It is perhaps in this role that he had his greatest influence. In his "Editor's Study" column at the Atlantic Monthly and, later, at Harper's, he formulated and disseminated his theories of "realism" in literature.
In 1904 he was one of the first seven people chosen for membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, of which he became president.
Howells died in Manhattan on May 11, 1920. He was buried in Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts.
Noting the "documentary" and truthful value of Howells' work, Henry James wrote: "Stroke by stroke and book by book your work was to become, for this exquisite notation of our whole democratic light and shade and give and take, in the highest degree documentary."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 11, 2016
This cleverly-constructed book is quite a bit of fun. It's exactly what the title states: a novel with twelve chapters each written by a different author—each told from the perspective of a different character in the story. The family of the title are the Talberts, leading citizens of a small New York town, and a few weeks of their personal affairs make for a surprisingly eventful plot. As the story opens, middle daughter Peggy has just come home from college engaged to be married. Her sizable family is divided in opinion over whether the engagement is a good thing, and before long the reader begins to wonder the same thing, as it's revealed that Peggy's rather hapless fiancé was—or is?—the victim of a previous infatuation for another woman—of all people, her father's unmarried sister Elizabeth. From here on, mysterious telegrams, misdirected letters, overheard conversations, and above all, well-meaning family members' efforts to help set things straight, take us on a sprightly, cliffhanger-laden ride to the end.
It's the twelve different perspectives that lend interest to a simple plot. In essence we have twelve "unreliable narrators" (so fashionable in fiction these days!) who each view themselves and their family members in a completely different way, and put their own totally different constructions on actions and events. The Talberts emerge as an ordinary, messy, affectionate, conflicted family: Cyrus Talbert and his gentle wife Ada, his wife's mother, the completely unaccountable Aunt Elizabeth, plus the five Talbert children and two of their spouses. There's oldest daughter Maria whose main tendency seems to be managing people, her husband Tom, whose sense of humor helps him tolerate the exasperation of his in-laws; son Charles Edward and his wife Lorraine, whose bohemian tastes and careless housekeeping distress and puzzle the rest of the family as much as their conventionality does the younger couple; schoolgirl Alice, who has a high opinion of herself and whose favorite pastime is discovering people's secrets; and Billy, the youngest, a typical boy who'd probably get along well with Penrod Schofield and Tom Sawyer. We hear from each of them before the book is through (except Cyrus; curiously, he's described in the opening chapter by the character of a neighbor who seems set to play a role in the story, but is pretty much brushed aside by subsequent authors), and their opinions and misunderstandings of each other are sometimes tragic and sometimes hilarious.
Most of the successive authors take cues from their predecessors in developing the characters, so that they become more complex rather than contradictory, although there are a few miscues here and there. It's fun to watch how each new author picks up on miscellaneous elements from previous chapters and takes them in the direction they think the story ought to go. By the second half of the book, one almost gets the impression that they're having fun throwing in new twists and cliffhangers thick and fast to see what the next person can make of them. The eleventh author, Alice Brown, evidently took such exception to what the previous chapter had done that she manages to completely undo it—if you don't read the beginning of Chapter XI very carefully, you'll likely end up scratching your head as I did for the rest of the chapter, wondering what in the world happened (I had to go back and re-read the first few pages of the chapter before I figured it out).
The only absolute dud in the bunch is the chapter by Henry James, ironically the best-known of the authors represented in retrospect. What on earth was the man thinking? I was hard put to it to figure out what each sentence meant, let alone what he was trying to get across in the chapter in general. His interpretation of all the characters seems slightly "off"—as nearly as I could make out through the sheer incoherent overwriting. Basically he makes Charles Edward look like an idiot, which isn't borne out by anything that comes before or after in the book. You would be entirely justified in skimming through this chapter just to glean the very small bit of plot advancement James somehow remembers to put in at the end.
In the end, the Talberts all having done their utmost to complicate matters, it's left to Henry Van Dyke to bring in a Friend of the Family in Chapter XII and wind everything up, which he manages to do rather rapidly but successfully enough, considering the curveball Brown threw in Chapter XI. And then everybody takes a deep breath—hopefully. It's a unique, fun read, especially for anybody who enjoys light Edwardian-era fiction.
It's the twelve different perspectives that lend interest to a simple plot. In essence we have twelve "unreliable narrators" (so fashionable in fiction these days!) who each view themselves and their family members in a completely different way, and put their own totally different constructions on actions and events. The Talberts emerge as an ordinary, messy, affectionate, conflicted family: Cyrus Talbert and his gentle wife Ada, his wife's mother, the completely unaccountable Aunt Elizabeth, plus the five Talbert children and two of their spouses. There's oldest daughter Maria whose main tendency seems to be managing people, her husband Tom, whose sense of humor helps him tolerate the exasperation of his in-laws; son Charles Edward and his wife Lorraine, whose bohemian tastes and careless housekeeping distress and puzzle the rest of the family as much as their conventionality does the younger couple; schoolgirl Alice, who has a high opinion of herself and whose favorite pastime is discovering people's secrets; and Billy, the youngest, a typical boy who'd probably get along well with Penrod Schofield and Tom Sawyer. We hear from each of them before the book is through (except Cyrus; curiously, he's described in the opening chapter by the character of a neighbor who seems set to play a role in the story, but is pretty much brushed aside by subsequent authors), and their opinions and misunderstandings of each other are sometimes tragic and sometimes hilarious.
Most of the successive authors take cues from their predecessors in developing the characters, so that they become more complex rather than contradictory, although there are a few miscues here and there. It's fun to watch how each new author picks up on miscellaneous elements from previous chapters and takes them in the direction they think the story ought to go. By the second half of the book, one almost gets the impression that they're having fun throwing in new twists and cliffhangers thick and fast to see what the next person can make of them. The eleventh author, Alice Brown, evidently took such exception to what the previous chapter had done that she manages to completely undo it—if you don't read the beginning of Chapter XI very carefully, you'll likely end up scratching your head as I did for the rest of the chapter, wondering what in the world happened (I had to go back and re-read the first few pages of the chapter before I figured it out).
The only absolute dud in the bunch is the chapter by Henry James, ironically the best-known of the authors represented in retrospect. What on earth was the man thinking? I was hard put to it to figure out what each sentence meant, let alone what he was trying to get across in the chapter in general. His interpretation of all the characters seems slightly "off"—as nearly as I could make out through the sheer incoherent overwriting. Basically he makes Charles Edward look like an idiot, which isn't borne out by anything that comes before or after in the book. You would be entirely justified in skimming through this chapter just to glean the very small bit of plot advancement James somehow remembers to put in at the end.
In the end, the Talberts all having done their utmost to complicate matters, it's left to Henry Van Dyke to bring in a Friend of the Family in Chapter XII and wind everything up, which he manages to do rather rapidly but successfully enough, considering the curveball Brown threw in Chapter XI. And then everybody takes a deep breath—hopefully. It's a unique, fun read, especially for anybody who enjoys light Edwardian-era fiction.
October 9, 2022
What a project! This was the big idea of (although he may have gotten this idea from Mark Twain) William Dean Howells. He pitched it to Harper's Bazar, who bit, and then it became the chore to find writers - and they had to be of a certain quality, and known for it to work - who would be willing. Mark Twain was, but opted out.
It even sounds like a parlor game at the turn of the century! There are twelve family members - each of their own type. Each of the twelve writers takes one of twelve family members, and the situation at hand and gets to write and submit a their offering. The Harper's Bazar editor had veto power or could make a person redo/rework - so she was the ultimate controller. She even wrote a chapter herself - Elizabeth Jordan - found out all this backstory online, not in the book itself - all very interesting and added to my enjoyment of this book. It was such a project! And fun to see the differences as each chapter unfolded. . .(I just erased the entire list, because some may consider that spoilers?)
I enjoyed the book, and the fun, puzzley-ness of it. But, then Henry James is a favorite of mine. He uses a million words beautifully when one or three would do.
It even sounds like a parlor game at the turn of the century! There are twelve family members - each of their own type. Each of the twelve writers takes one of twelve family members, and the situation at hand and gets to write and submit a their offering. The Harper's Bazar editor had veto power or could make a person redo/rework - so she was the ultimate controller. She even wrote a chapter herself - Elizabeth Jordan - found out all this backstory online, not in the book itself - all very interesting and added to my enjoyment of this book. It was such a project! And fun to see the differences as each chapter unfolded. . .(I just erased the entire list, because some may consider that spoilers?)
I enjoyed the book, and the fun, puzzley-ness of it. But, then Henry James is a favorite of mine. He uses a million words beautifully when one or three would do.
May 29, 2008
I picked this book up in an old book store in New Orleans. I had never heard of it before and thought it sounded fascinating. It was originally published in book form in 1908, but it first ran as a series in Harper's Bazaar magazine. It is written by twelve authors who were all pretty well known in their day although most of them have been long forgotten. Henry James was the name I recognized and probably the reason I bought the book. I loved his books when I read them in college, but so far his chapter is my least favorite.
The book concerns a family and each of the authors was assigned a chapter to write about one member of the family. The main plot of the story revolves around the young daughter who has recently become engaged.
The first chapter is written by William Dean Howells who came up with the idea of a novel written by 12 authors. He introduces the father. The father is a typical upper/middle class man with reservations about his daughter marrying a young man she met at college. Evidently even sending the daughter to college--a coed college--was a big controversy in the family, and now they aren't sure that it is the "proper" place to meet a husband. The father also expresses his opinion on women and their place in the world and is especially condescending to the "old maid aunt" of the family.
It just so happens the next chapter is about the old maid aunt written by Mary Wilkins Freeman. Freeman thought Howells' treatment of the old maid aunt was outdated and unfair, so she spiced her up by introducing a liaison between the old maid aunt and the young daughter's fiancee.
The first chapter was a little rough going, but once I got to Freemans' chapter I was hooked. There are plot twists and surprises all along the way. It's really interesting to see how each author leaves the plot hanging at the end of his/her chapter and then how the next author picks it up and runs with it.
The book concerns a family and each of the authors was assigned a chapter to write about one member of the family. The main plot of the story revolves around the young daughter who has recently become engaged.
The first chapter is written by William Dean Howells who came up with the idea of a novel written by 12 authors. He introduces the father. The father is a typical upper/middle class man with reservations about his daughter marrying a young man she met at college. Evidently even sending the daughter to college--a coed college--was a big controversy in the family, and now they aren't sure that it is the "proper" place to meet a husband. The father also expresses his opinion on women and their place in the world and is especially condescending to the "old maid aunt" of the family.
It just so happens the next chapter is about the old maid aunt written by Mary Wilkins Freeman. Freeman thought Howells' treatment of the old maid aunt was outdated and unfair, so she spiced her up by introducing a liaison between the old maid aunt and the young daughter's fiancee.
The first chapter was a little rough going, but once I got to Freemans' chapter I was hooked. There are plot twists and surprises all along the way. It's really interesting to see how each author leaves the plot hanging at the end of his/her chapter and then how the next author picks it up and runs with it.
April 6, 2020
Well, I have to say this is one of the most unique stories I've read. I loved the idea and I liked how you got to see the story unfold from the different perspectives of the family members. There was more language then I was comfortable with and the ending wasn't what I had hoped for.
October 27, 2020
After reading some very heavy nonfiction, I found this volume on the shelf of ebooks from my local library. Having read two of the authors before, I was attracted by the subject matter and the POV as represented by the twelve. Much to my surprise, the storyline moved along coherently and the stylist differences enchanted rather than disturbed me. Family dynamics are highlighted and well analyzed and understood as they mostly are since time immemorial. Even given some antiguated expressions, customs and etiquette, the subject matter of the family is timeless.
July 25, 2024
Despite the low rating, I'm not sorry I read this. The introduction is fascinating. Apparently the second author totally upset William Dean Howells' (he wrote the first chapter) vision of the book by changing the old maid aunt into a sexy redhead. Also Henry James' chapter is twice as long as everyone else's and he wanted to take over and finish the book himself! Ha. But in the end, the thing isn't very good. I hoped to "discover" some new authors here and read more of their work, but I don't think so...
June 26, 2021
I picked this up in a national trust used book store, attracted by the name of Dean Howells and was pleasantly surprised that such a contrived idea worked so well. A lot of the authors were new to me but they all managed to convey a real sense of character in each of their chapters. The story flowed in a gentle way and there was something of a reality tv feel to it. Well worth the effort and a nice introduction to some new writers
July 11, 2022
Odd little novel that I am really happy I put on my exam list. One of those books where it is unlikely you will ever meet someone who has also read it. Authored by 12 different writers in 1908, it offers a neat little snapshot of the early 20th century literary scene––good chapters by Howells, Henry James, and Freeman.
September 12, 2021
I liked the setup of having twelve different authors, it was great to see their different writing styles. Also, apparently, how they each decided to take the story in a different direction as there were definitely things that didn’t follow. But it was a fun read!
January 14, 2022
This was written as a stunt by a group of Edwardian-era novelists and intellectuals. Life is lived very differently now. I couldn't believe how elitist and sexist this was. I only read what I had to be able to discuss it in our book group.
November 30, 2019
What a joy, reading this!
July 21, 2023
As an experiment, it was an intriguing read, but the plot just didn’t cohere across the different perspectives offered in the storyline.
August 16, 2015
Held my interest
This book book light and interesting ,and for the mosh part,easy to understand,even though written in the style of early Victorian.
I wanted to read it to see if 12 authors could make a cohesive and interesting book. I would say they did very well , except for one, who's chapter was so rambling and unintelligible I had to just scan the paragraphs to get any sense out of it.But , all in all,it was a good book.
This book book light and interesting ,and for the mosh part,easy to understand,even though written in the style of early Victorian.
I wanted to read it to see if 12 authors could make a cohesive and interesting book. I would say they did very well , except for one, who's chapter was so rambling and unintelligible I had to just scan the paragraphs to get any sense out of it.But , all in all,it was a good book.
June 2, 2015
Interesting to read a serial story by Victorian authors — Henry James’ chapter is actually the least interesting. I could feel the different author’s different opinions about the characters - one person’s hero is another’s villain. I do think they should not all have taken such a similar tack for their chapters - with their character taking charge.
Many nice period details.
Many nice period details.
April 16, 2015
This compilation story was interesting. Each author took a different family member to continue the story. Sometimes, we the readers, know things that the other family members don't always know. The authors follow each other to make the story complete. Worth the read.
October 13, 2013
I enjoyed it but some of the authors were definitely better than others. I guess that is to be expected. I wish he had been able to get Mark Twain to do a chapter which he had hoped to do since they were friends.
November 3, 2017
really interesting story and i really enjoyed the collaboration of some of my favorite authors
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews