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Anya Seton

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Anya Seton
A young white bride and groom, standing arm in arm and smiling; dark-haired bride has a voluminous veil and a white gown with short sleeves; she is holding a bouquet; groom is in formal dress and wearing a corsage; his hair is side-parted and short
Seton at her wedding to her first husband Hamilton Cottier, from a 1923 publication
BornAnn Seton
(1904-01-23)January 23, 1904
Manhattan, New York
DiedNovember 8, 1990(1990-11-08) (aged 86)
Old Greenwich, Connecticut
OccupationAuthor
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistorical fiction
Notable worksKatherine
Green Darkness
SpouseHamilton Cottier (m. 1923, div. 1928)
Hamilton M. Chase (m. 1930, div. 1968)
Children3
ParentsErnest Thompson Seton (Father)
Grace Gallatin Seton Thompson (Mother)

Anya Seton (January 23, 1904 – November 8, 1990), born Ann Seton, was an American author of historical fiction, or as she preferred they be called, "biographical novels".[1][2]

Early life[edit]

Anya Seton was born Ann Seton on January 23, 1904, in New York City.[3] Her father, Ernest Thompson Seton, was Boy Scouts of America co-founder, naturalist, and author. Ernest, an English immigrant, has notable Scottish lineage in Northumberland.[2] Ernest and his family immigrated to Canada in 1866, later moving to America.[4] Her mother was Grace Gallatin Seton Thompson, an author, suffragist, two-time president of the National League of American Pen Women, and founder of the Campfire Girls.[3][2] The couple did not have any other children.[2]

Seton was primarily educated by private tutors and graduated from Spence School, though she never attended college.[2][5] The Setons were wealthy, and Seton often traveled with her parents.[3] Despite her family's money, Seton very often moved homes. Because of this, Seton was unable to think of any place as her true home, nor any school as her true school. Ernest was often away, and even when he was around, he frequently criticized his daughter.[6] Seton's parents divorced in 1934.[2]

Career[edit]

Seton published her first novel, My Theodosia, in 1941.[2]

Seton's historical novels were noted for how extensively she researched the historical facts,[7][8] and some of them were best-sellers: Dragonwyck (1944) and Foxfire (1950) were both made into Hollywood films.[2][7] Three of her books are classics in their genre and continue in their popularity to the present: Katherine (1954), the story of Katherine Swynford, the mistress and eventual wife of John of Gaunt, and their children, who were the direct ancestors of the Tudors, Stuarts, and the modern British royal family; Green Darkness (1973), the story of a modern couple plagued by their past life incarnations; and The Winthrop Woman about the notorious Elizabeth Fones, niece and daughter-in-law of John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.[9] Most of her novels have been recently republished, several with forewords by Philippa Gregory. In 2003, Katherine was chosen as Britain’s 95th best-loved novel of all time in a nationwide poll conducted by the BBC.[10]

Her 1962 novel Devil Water concerns James, the luckless Earl of Derwentwater and his involvement with the Jacobite rising of 1715. She also narrates the story of his brother Charles, beheaded after the 1745 rebellion, the last man to die for the cause. The action of the novel moves back and forth between Northumberland, Tyneside, London, and the United States. Seton stated that the book developed out of her love for Northumberland. She certainly visited her Snowdon cousins at Felton. Billy Pigg, the celebrated Northumbrian piper played "Derwentwater's Farewell" especially for her. The novel shows her typical thorough research of events and places, though the accents are a little wayward. Seton said that her greatest debt of all was to Amy Flagg of Westoe Village in South Shields, her father's birthplace.[11]

Personal life[edit]

The grave of Anya Seton in Putnam Cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut

In 1904, Seton was born in Manhattan to English-born naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton and American travel writer Grace Gallatin Seton Thompson.[2][7] She grew up in Cos Cob, Connecticut, in a wealthy family.[2][8]

Seton married twice. Her first marriage was to Hamilton Cottier, a Rhodes scholar, whom she married when she was 19 years old. They had two children,[2] a daughter named Pamela and a son named Seton. Seton died in 1979.[9] Her second marriage was to investment counselor Hamilton (Chan) M. Chase in 1930. Together they had one daughter,[2] Clemency, and they divorced in 1968.[12]

She died of heart failure at the age of 86 on November 8, 1990, in Old Greenwich, Connecticut,[7][9][3] and was survived by Pamela and Clemency, five grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.[8] She is interred at Putnam Cemetery in Greenwich.[13]

Works[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Weir, Alison (2007). Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster'. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 310.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Moser, Margaret (29 September 2006). "Love in the Time of 'Green Darkness'". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Anya Seton | Historical Fiction, Novels, Biographies | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  4. ^ "Ernest Thompson Seton | Naturalist, Artist, Conservationist | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  5. ^ Librarian, Local History (2018-02-23). "Greenwich Author Anya Seton". Greenwich Library. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  6. ^ Tod, M. K. (2020-10-22). "Anya Seton: A Writing Life by Lucinda MacKethan". A Writer of History. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  7. ^ a b c d "Anya Seton, author of historical novels". Chicago Sun-Times. 11 November 1990. Archived from the original on 10 June 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2013. (subscription required)
  8. ^ a b c "Best-Selling Novelist Anya Seton Dies". The Washington Post. 11 November 1990. Archived from the original on 10 June 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2013. (subscription required)
  9. ^ a b c Fowler, Glenn (10 November 1990). "Anya Seton, Author of 'Foxfire' and Other Novels, is Dead at 86". New York Times. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  10. ^ "The Big Read Top 100". BBC. August 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  11. ^ Seton, Anya (2013). Devil Water. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 557. ISBN 9780547685281.
  12. ^ William E. Finch, Jr. "Anya Seton Papers". hstgams.org. The Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich. Archived from the original on 28 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  13. ^ Librarian, Local History (2018-02-23). "Greenwich Author Anya Seton". Greenwich Library. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  14. ^ "Foxfire". Historical Novel Society. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  15. ^ MacKethan, Lucinda Hardwick (2020). Anya Seton : a writing life. Chicago, Illinois. ISBN 978-1-64160-088-0. OCLC 1152384889.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. ^ "Book Review: Washington Irving". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2023-01-26.

Further reading[edit]

  • MacKethan, Lucinda H. (2020). Anya Seton: A Writing Life. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1641600866.

External links[edit]

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