Grace King
Grace Elizabeth King (November 29, 1851 – January 14, 1932) was an American author of Louisiana stories, history, and biography, and a leader in historical and literary activities.
King began her literary career as a response to George Washington Cable's negative portrayal of Louisiana Creoles.
[4] Other literary scholars disagree and believe that King created strong black female characters with moral agency.
After Union troops invaded and occupied New Orleans in the Civil War, the King family sought refuge at L'Embarrass Plantation.
[15] While attending the 1885 Cotton Centennial Exposition, King met the northern editor Richard Watson Gilder.
The pair discussed why Creoles hated the literature of George Washington Cable, and Gilder asked King why Louisianians such as herself never tried to write their interpretation of Louisiana.
"[16] With the help of King's friend and unofficial literary agent, Charles Dudley Warner, "Monsieur Motte" was published anonymously in the New Princeton Review in 1886.
[17] "Monsieur Motte" describes the relationship between Marie Modeste, an orphaned girl about to graduate from boarding school in New Orleans and her hairdresser, Marcélite.
[18] With the encouragement of Warner, King wrote three succeeding parts and published them alongside the original story as the novel, Monsieur Motte in 1888.
King also wrote and published the novellas "Earthlings" and "The Chevalier Alain de Triton" for literary magazines.
The stories were told from the point of view of women who experienced the loss of social status, money, and family members due to the Civil War and Reconstruction.
[23] King's histories were heavily influenced by her friend, Charles Gayarré, a Louisiana historian and intellectual.
[28] However, other scholars argue that King's interpretation of historical facts creates a feminized social history.
[29] King's interest in and knowledge of history led to her serving as either the secretary, vice-president, and president of the Louisiana Historical Society for over thirty years.
Brett asked King to write a novel about Reconstruction in the style of Thomas Nelson Page's romantic work.
In 1916, Alfred Harcourt of Henry Holt and Company agreed to publish the novel, but it never received wide distribution or publicity.
The novel follows the families through the social, economic, and psychological effects of the Civil War, including the crisis of masculinity experienced by southern patriarchs and freedmen.
She exchanged letters with Anne Clough, Madame Blanc, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Ruth McEnery Stuart.
[36] While King was considered a minor author, she received much recognition for her literary talents and knowledge of history.
