Fanny Kemble's Civil Wars: The Story of America's Most Unlikely Abolitionist

by Catherine Clinton

Book Overview

A British stage star turned Georgia plantation mistress, Fanny Kemble is perhaps best remembered as a critic of slavery--and an influential opponent of this institution during the years leading up to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684844141
• ISBN13: 9780684844145
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 302 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.6" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

The life of an impressive nineteenth century woman

British stage idol Fanny Kemble (1809-93) married a wealthy American slave-owner in 1834. Although the marriage turned out disastrously, it provided a bonanza for historians. No shrinking violet and a prolific writer, Fanny wrote profusely on slavery, America, and women's issues till her death. The Kembles were England's leading theatrical family. Sarah Siddons was her aunt, but Fanny became equally celebrated. Despite this, her family were chronically in debt, and the American tour was one of innumerable unsuccessful efforts to make money. Soon after arriving she fell in love with Pierce Butler, a Georgia plantation owner, who made her stop working after they married. She quickly regretted her decision, but there was little a woman could do in that era. When Butler moved to his plantation, Fanny encountered slavery first hand and did not like what she saw. She complained bitterly and protested the slaves' treatment. Worse, she outraged her husband and the neighbors by expressing her opinions in print and in the north. Perhaps her most impressive accomplishment was getting a divorce, a nearly impossible feat in the nineteenth century. It took fifteen years. Except for public readings she never acted again, but her personality and writing sustained her celebrity until the end of the century.Like many nineteenth century figures, Kemble seemed to spend half her day writing. She kept a journal, sent and received a torrent of letters, published a dozen books and scores of articles and essays. Catherine Clinton, Professor of History at Baruch College (The Plantation Mistress, 1982) has obviously read it all and transformed it into an entertaining account of one of the most colorful women of her time.

You Won't Be Able to Put the Book Down

A combination of excellent writting and the fascinating subject -Fanny Kemble - make this a book you'll find difficult to put down. After reading this book, I, too, long to know more about this charismatic woman. Regardless of whether or not your interests lie in learning more about women during the Civil War, Fanny Kemble's life and times is a thoroughly compelling story.I originally saw Catherine Clinton on C-Span Book TV (yes, I admit I do watch it! LOL). Her enthusiasm regarding Fanny Kemble was clearly evident and the book does not disappoint. I do want to point out that I've chosen to read Clinton's book before I've read the journals which she edited. With respect to Fanny Kemble, I find her to be a study in contrast. On the one hand she craved independence of thought and financial means yet she appears to have despised the very things that would bring her either independence, financial security or both. For example, she clearly was an excellent performer - something which would have allowed her independence of both thought and financial security - yet it appears she in many instances indicates she disliked performing. After reading Catherine Clinton's book, I can't help but wonder what the literary world lost when she married Pierce Butler. Would we have another Jane Austen if she had remained unmarried or if she had a supportive or better match for a husband? Unfortunately, we're only left to guess.

Informative

I checked this book out from the library and read it the week prior to our family's vacation to Charleston, SC. I found it very informative and I enjoyed recognizing the names of families, towns and historical landmarks mentioned in the book, especially St. Simon's Island, which I enjoyed reading about in Eugenia Price's series of books on that particular area. I have a great interest in women's experiences, pre and post-civil war, and would not think twice about adding this book to my ever-growing collection of that era.

A Not-So-Unlikely Abolitionist

In 1836, just two years after famed British actress Fanny Kemble married Pierce Butler, he inherited the second largest plantation in Georgia. Her memoir of planter-society life, published in 1863 as Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation, provided, according to Author Catherine Clinton, "a disquieting glimpse into the world the slaveholders made." Clinton holds the Ph.D. in history from Princeton University, and she has taught at several colleges and universities including Brandeis, Brown, and Harvard. She is widely regarded as one of the preeminent historians of the antebellum south and of American women in the 19th century, and her expertise and erudition come through on every page of this fascinating book. In the interest of fairness, I must disclose that Clinton and I were college classmates, and I took several courses with her. She was a brilliant student, and her success as a professional historian was predestined.Kemble belonged to a family of prominent British Shakespearean actors, and her earliest fame came as the title heroine in Romeo and Julie and in performances in other classics in London beginning in 1829, when she was only 19. In 1832, she arrived in the United States for a two-year theatrical tour. We are, however, primarily interested in Kemble's life after her 1834 marriage to Pierce Butler, who inherited the plantations on Georgia's Sea Islands in 1836. Kemble and Butler lived for their first years together in Philadelphia, but Butler tenaciously held onto extreme social attitudes. In Southern antebellum culture, according to Clinton, "the white male patriarch ruled unchallenged, and "Fanny could best demonstrate her loyalty, Butler maintained, by agreeing with him in every regard." That was virtually impossible for the spirited Kemble, who found her husband to be "rude and unkind" and his mental faculties "lackluster." In contrast, the portraits of Kemble in this book show her to be a woman of obvious intelligence and seriousness of purpose. The Butler-Kemble union failed from the beginning and, in 1835, according to Clinton, Kemble expressed willingness to give Butler custody of their infant daughter if he would allow her to leave. Butler rejected the idea, and Kemble remained miserable until their divorce in 1849. From an early age, Kemble had imagined herself to be a "literary lioness," and, in despair, she turned to writing. In the spring of 1835, Kemble wrote a "long and vehement treatise against negro slavery." According to Clinton, Kemble was "[a]lways given to social commentary with a theatrical flair." Clinton observes that "Kemble's vivid writings [are] replete with insights on women's rights, slavery, and race," and they offer valuable insights into the realities of plantation life. But Clinton notes that "[a]s Mrs. Pierce Butler, the wife of the second largest slaveholder in Georgia," Kemble "found herself in a precarious position." The peculiar