A Daughter of the Snows

A Daughter of the Snows (1902) is Jack London's first novel. Set in the Yukon, it tells the story of Frona Welse, "a Stanford graduate and physical Valkyrie"[1] who takes to the trail after upsetting her wealthy father's community by her forthright manner and befriending the town's prostitute. She is also torn between love for two suitors: Gregory St Vincent, a local man who turns out to be cowardly and treacherous; and Vance Corliss, a Yale-trained mining engineer.[2]

A Daughter of the Snows
First edition
AuthorJack London
IllustratorFrederick C. Yohn
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Published1902 (J. B. Lippincott Company)
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages334 pp
OCLC25651256

The novel is noteworthy for its strong and self-reliant heroine, one of many who would people his fiction. Her name echoes that of his mother, Flora Wellman, though her inspiration has also been said to include London's friend Anna Strunsky.[1]

Modern commentators have criticized the novel for its approval of the main character's view that Anglo-Saxons are racially superior.[3]

The novel was commissioned by publisher S. S. McClure, who provided London a $125 a month stipend to write it.[4]

References
  1. Jack London's Women, Clarice Stasz, Univ of Massachusetts Press, 2001, ISBN 1-55849-301-8 Google Books
  2. Jack London, Charles Child Walcutt, U of Minnesota Press, 1966, ISBN 0-8166-0387-1 Google Books
  3. Cassuto, Leonard; Reesman, Jeanne Campbell (1998). Rereading Jack London. Stanford University Press. p. 161. ISBN 9780804735162.
  4. Crisler, Jesse S. "The "California Naturalists": Memory as Spiritual Renewal and Other Parallels in London, Norris, and Steinbeck" (PDF). Literature and Belief. Center for the Study of Christian Values in Literature. 21 (1).


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.