The Life I Really Lived: A Novel

by Jessamyn West

Although Orpha Chase, the author of eighteen popular and pious novels, is considered a reflection of her characters' morality, such a belief contrasts sharply with the shocking violence and passion that are parts of her past

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adult Fiction

404 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Mary Jessamyn West was an American Quaker (originally from Indiana) who wrote numerous stories and novels, notably The Friendly Persuasion (1945).

Reviews

[Gypsy Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Page 78
"Looks are changed by what we are inside, not what we admire outside. Feelings shape our faces as fingers shape clay. The flesh reveals what the heart has felt. Every heart thump leaves its mark: hollowed cheeks, sunken eye sockets, downturned lips. The admiring eye is powerless to shape the flesh that houses it."

[Beverly Diehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This classic, underread novel, has a little of something for everyone. Faith healing, movie-making, secret homosexual affairs, secret heterosexual affairs, farming, courtroom dramas, and shoe salesmen. All while the narrator, a young woman named Orpha Chase, comes into her own as a wife, mother, lover, sister, and author. It's filled with wonderful details about life in the country, as well as early Los Angeles.

Here's a sample of a the brilliant and humorous writing:

But Lon was not only entertainment; he mixed entertainment with information like a modern novelist who not only gives you a lot of love-making, but also leaves you, when the lovers part, with a lot of information about running a hotel, avoiding sharks, or living in a kibbutz.

And it deals with faith in a way that is respectful and not hokey. A lot of people are familiar with West's best-selling The Friendly Persuasion, but this novel is also well-worth a read.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel written in the form of an autobiography

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jessamyn West in her novel, the Life I Really Lived, explores the internal life of a self-aware woman who nonetheless is caught up by the pressures society puts on people to live according to societal expectations. As a young girl she falls in love and marries a man who meets both her intellectual and physical needs but somehow does not reveal to his wife his true self. When confronted with exposure of a homosexual relationship he murders and then commits suicide. Orpha, the main character, then moves through life finding fulfillment and love, and yet still cannot find her true self. She finds herself through writing. The note that I take away from this book is that Orpha, despite many disappointments and losses, accepted what came with opening and without judgement. Her story ends with an affirmation of acceptance and willingness to take the next step.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was unfamiliar with this author when I picked up the novel at a used book store, but her characters were interesting and the story line gave insight into the quacker beliefs that added a depth to the story that I found interesting.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in my teens and fell in love with it, so much, in fact, I thought when I had a daughter I’d name her Jessamyn :-) That never came to pass, the naming or the children, but this book is one of my all time favs.

[Cws]

F Wes

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unusual story about an author exposing her past.

[Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite Jessamyn West. I re-read it every few years, & buy it every time i see it at a used book store.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read it long ago and loved it. I need to read it again to write a proper review. West is a wonderful writer, she reminds me of a latter day Willa Cather.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great characters, broad scope, not what I expected. Very good.