The Sturdy Oak

by Elizabeth Garver Jordan, Ida H. Washington (Contributor)

In the spring of 1916, as the workers for woman suffrage were laying plans for another attack on the bastions of male supremacy, the idea for The Sturdy Oak was born. Based on the rules of an old parlor game, wherein one person begins a narrative, another continues it, and another follows, this collaborative effort by the leading writers of the day, such as Fannie Hurst, Dorothy Canfield, and Kathleen Norris, is a satiric look at the gender roles of the time.

There is much in The Sturdy Oak that reflects the New York campaign for suffrage of 1916–1917. The setting is the fictional city of Whitewater in upstate New York. Idealistic reformers are pitted against a ruthless political machine, and the traditional picture of man as “the sturdy oak” supporting woman, “the clinging vine,” is ridiculed in the portrayal of an engaging couple, George and Genevieve Remington. Nonetheless, the purpose of the book is not primarily ridicule but reform, and the reader is taken through the steps by which a confirmed anti-suffragist is gradually transformed into a supporter of the suffrage cause.

Beyond its historical interest, The Sturdy Oak is imbued with a political and social currency that makes it applicable even today. And because of the skill of the writers of this composite novel, even eight decades after its initial publication The Sturdy Oak is still, as the New York Times said in 1917, “irresistibly readable.”

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Feminism, Classics

190 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1917

About the author

Elizabeth Garver Jordan (May 9, 1865 – February 24, 1947) was an American journalist, author, editor, and suffragist, now remembered primarily for having edited the first two novels of Sinclair Lewis, and for her relationship with Henry James, especially for recruiting him to participate in the round-robin novel The Whole Family. She was editor of Harper's Bazaar from 1900 to 1913.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[sslyb · Rating 3 out of 5]

14 chapters, 14 different authors telling the tale of a small town coming round to supporting universal sufferage. The book was produced for the 1917 campaign season. All proceeds from the sale went to support of the Sufferage Cause.

[Peter]

"Oh George, I think I meant women when I said 'we.' George, I'm afraid I'm a suffragist."

Amusing satire, a bit heavyhanded.

The Sturdy Oak is a 'composite' novel; it was written by fourteen different authors, round-robin style, each one taking a chapter. Not all of these writers stand on equal footing, unfortunately, and they range from quite skillful (Kathleen Norris) to annoyingly bad (Harry Leon Wilson). Uneven though it may be, it succeeds in sculpting interesting characters (even if only by the end of the novel), and plotwise, it even throws in some unexpected flourishes to finish strong despite its shaky start.

I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the women's suffrage movement from a historical or cultural perspective. As entertainment: a mixed bag, but it has its moments.

[Samantha Glasser]

Read this book online for free through Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8435/8...

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my "Getting Out the Vote: US Suffrage Literature" class.

[Emily Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a funny, sort of silly feminist mish-mash of chapters following a story of the feminist conversion of a district attorney candidate and his wife. There were some particularly insightful and clever bits, especially in the first half.

[Melissa]

It was actually Miss Blakes husband that I read but its not listed on here.