Onoto Watanna: The Story of Winnifred Eaton

by Diana Birchall

In 1901, Winnifred Eaton arrived in New York City with literary ambitions, journalism experience, and the manuscript for  A Japanese Nightingale,  the novel that would make her famous. Her writing and gift for reinvention would set her apart from other women authors of her time and make her a fascinating early figure in Asian American literature.  Diana Birchall, Eaton's granddaughter, tells the Horatio Alger story of the woman who became Onoto Watanna. Born to a British father and a Chinese mother, Winnifred capitalized on her exotic appearance—and protected herself from Americans' scorn of the Chinese—by "becoming" Japanese. Her popular Japanese-themed romance novels thrust her into the glittering world of New York's literati. From there she leapt to Hollywood to become a scriptwriting protégée of Carl Laemmle at Universal Studios. Yet her boldness and talent masked a sometimes-desperate personal life that included a troubled first marriage and the sudden end of her Hollywood career.  A compelling saga of the shifting boundary between life and art,  Onoto Watanna  reveals the conflicting stories, personal tempests, and remarkable accomplishments of a woman whose career was sensational in every sense.

Genres: Biography Memoir, Biography

252 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Camelia Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Onoto Watanna: The Story of Winnifred Eaton after I read Sui Sin Far , a biography for Winnifred Eaton's sister, Edith Eaton, who was also a writer. In Asian American literature circle, it seems Edith is considered the "good" sister while Winnifred is the "bad" one. In her book, The Chinese In American, historian Iris Chang highly praised the elder sister but totally ignored Onoto Watanna.

I was a bit worried that the biographer, Diana Birchall, might "white-wash" her grandmother, which I am happy to discover, is not the case. Diana Birchall truthfully pictured Winifred Eaton as a talented, inventive writer and a psychologically complicate woman.

Diana Birchall also answered (at least partially) several questions that I had been wondering:
1. Did Winnifred fake her identity merely because of survival instinct and how did she feel about her own fabrication? Did she ever feel shame?
2. Was she never discovered by her audience or journalists and reporters at the height of her fame?
3. What was the reaction from real Japanese scholars at her time and in modern days?

The book is less academic and more entertaining than Sui Sin Far.

I am now fascinated by the mix-raced, poverty-ridden bohemian Eaton family. The 12 (another 2 died in infancy) children seemed all have made to a better life. Quite a few of them were not just survivors but fighters... Another Eaton sister, Grace, when widowed, became a lawyer and was admitted to Illinois bar in 1912 at the age of forty-five.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A meticulously researched and engaging account of a 19th century woman who capitalized on society's fascination for all things Japanese by adopting a Japanese persona -- despite lacking any ethnic, cultural, familial or linguistic connection with the country. It would be easy to dismiss Winnifred Eaton, self-styled as "Onoto Watanna" as a mere con artist, but great-granddaugher Diana Birchall reveals layers to Eaton's character and motivations that make the answer much more complex. I found each chapter not only a fascinating account of Eaton, but also of the society that shaped her. A fascinating exploration of the theme of identity, and the extremes some people will pursue to change it.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

.