Mother by Kathleen Norris ~ 1911. This edition: Tower Books, 1946. Introduction by Charles G. Norris. Hardcover. 188 pages.
Sometimes I look at the current book pile and think, “This is almost too darned eclectic. Woman, stick with one kind of thing!” But then I look again, and think, “No, this is much more interesting.”
From Paul Theroux’s hookers and existential angst Saint Jack to this sticky-sweet, heavily moralizing, ode to noble motherhood, all in a few hours. It’s a bit brain twisting, but there we have it. Read on, read on!
I have a slightly guilty fondness for early 20th century writer Kathleen Norris‘s entertaining but heavily messaged sagas of young girls being seduced by worldly pleasures and then finding their real purpose through prayer and good works, and I’m slowly amassing a selection of her titles. So when I was poking around in the dusty back room of a Quesnel junk shop yesterday, looking for old picture frames worthy of reuse, it thrilled me no end to notice Norris’s name on the faded spine of a hardcover book peeking out of a heaped box of Reader’s Digest condensed novels and the like.
“Heeeeyyyyy,” I said, keeping my voice deliberately calm, “How much for these tired old books?” The proprietor came over and poked at them a bit. He peered into my eyes. I smiled back, calmly. Don’t show them you’re keen, you know.
“I dunno. How’s about $4.00? Each!” he emphasized, no doubt catching the suddenly interested gleam in my eye.
Well, get out of my way, buddy.
Guess what I brought home?
This one, Mother, by Kathleen Norris, the 1946 reissue of the author’s breakout 1911 bestseller, in a tired but intact dust jacket.
Panther’s Moon, by Victor Canning, 1948. With a dust jacket later found folded up inside it, all there if rather disintegrated.
Piccadilly Jim by P.G. Wodehouse, a 1917 edition – with colour-tinted illustrations! – of the 1916 issue.
The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene, first Canadian edition, 1948, no dust jacket but hey! – we can’t have everything, can we?
and
Coombe St. Mary’s, by Maud Diver, first edition, 1925.
I even found three decent picture frames. $2.00 each, what a deal. (No, really. They are quite nice.)
Life is good.
Where was I?
Oh, yes. Mother.
Well, what can I say about the book? It’s absolutely as I expected, which was slightly disappointing, because I always have a tiny secret hope that Norris’s young ladies will prevail in their stubborn initial assertion that there is more to life than winsome but demanding babies and sticking by your husband no matter what awful things he does and so on. But nope, Mother sets the pattern for what is to follow, and it pounds the message home. Later Norris donned more velvety gloves, but here the preacher’s fist is iron, unpadded.
Here’s the story – such as it is – as described on the front flyleaf. I really don’t have anything to add.
Yes, our young protagonist, after wallowing in the fleshpots, finds true happiness in catching herself a worthy man. I’d say “young man”, but as her intended is ten years older than she is I guess that point is debatable. But he’s rich, and of “good family”, so she is to be congratulated. Bring on the babies! Mother approves.
Okay, the rating. Oh boy.
This is really not a very good book in the literary sense, vintage charm notwithstanding. If I wasn’t so weirdly enamoured of Kathleen Norris, it would likely get a dismissive 3/10 or something like that. But as it is her very first novel, and is interesting largely for that reason, I am going to fudge things a bit and push it up to 5/10.
Readers, beware. This is not in any way a recommendation for you to go out and hunt this thing down. Unless of course you’ve been bitten by the same bug, and want to enlarge your experience of the intriguing publishing phenomenon which was Kathleen Norris in her heyday.
I’ve written about several of her other books in the past. The American Flaggs, and An Apple for Eve. That last one starts with a reference to a past road trip, but if you scroll down you’ll find the book review.
I’m sure I’ll be sharing more about Kathleen Norris in the future; I find her strangely appealing, and her titles will no doubt fit in well with the Century of Books project, so I’ll leave you with these last few scans of Mother‘s dust jacket.
Leaves & Pages 
I think I need to spend more time in used book stores. But it’s a dangerously slippery slope… Have you read Coomb St. Mary’s? It was part of my dissertation. Maud Diver is fascinatingly, if troublingly, anti-feminist.
Yes, a dangerously slippery slope, indeed! But so much fun when one hits the random jackpot!
I have not yet read Coombe St. Mary’s, but as soon as I saw the author’s name it tinged a little bell. I am looking forward to making her acquaintance.
Anti-feminist can be rather interesting, can’t it? If only to point out how much things have – and haven’t! – changed in the past century-plus.
Ha. That’s so funny. I just read this title as well. Even though I highly enjoy my traditional role as a stay-home-mother, I found this a bit TOO sweet, and it left me slightly dissatisfied as well. I also got a newer reprint from a company that I have a huge dislike for (long story) and that made me irritated the whole time I was reading it. Your copy is MUCH prettier. 🙂 Amy
I am (or I guess was – they’re grown up now!) a happy and completely fulfilled stay-at-home mom, too, carrying out an absolutely “traditional” role in many ways, but it was a free choice made out of a number of viable options and no one forced me into it through “guilt”.
I’m rather resistant to literature with such an obvious moral agenda as this book has. The author toned it down some in later years, in that she started “showing” versus “telling” to forward her message. This one isn’t exactly subtle, is it?! 🙂
But it is a lovely edition, with an enthusiastic foreword by the author’s husband telling the story of how the novel was published, and the novel itself is quite readable despite the “perfect mother” annoying bits. Loved the descriptions of Mrs. Carr-Boldt’s “busy” days; there was a fair bit of ironic sting in those passages, wasn’t there?
If you haven’t read some of the later books by this writer, I suggest you give them a try – I believe a number are available online through Project Gutenberg. Or maybe you’re already familiar with Kathleen Norris’s expanded body of work?
No, I am not familiar with her work, I’ll have to take a look. Yes, good point free choice. Ha. 😉 I’m with you about being resistant to literature that force feeds you agendas! Yes, Mrs. Carr-Boldt’s busy days, kind of like I’m busy posting to Instagram. LOL!
I have never written a comment on a blog before, but I have to this time as I am a mega Kathleen Norris fan (absolutely no relation to my married name!). I discovered instalments of “Saturday’s Child” decades ago and was instantly hooked. I think I own all her writings with possible exceptions of English (John Murray) publications or stories that never made it to book form out of magazines. KN helped me to love California (I’m Australian). I am currently visiting my husband’s family in Calif. and of course have a KN with me = “Mystery House”. I enjoy your blog very much especially of course when you comment on favourites like Elizabeth Goudge or refer to intriguing characters like Dodie Smith!
Hi Christine, so glad you broke your silence and posted! What a great comment. One of the lovely things about Kathleen Norris’s books is the California setting of so many of them; beautifully done. I live in Canada but I “know” California from many visits there to spend time with family in Fresno; KN’s descriptions are detailed and true and bring my own memories to life.
Elizabeth Goudge is a quiet favourite; I now have a nearly complete collection of her works and I re-read my favourites often. Dodie Smith is a writer I have a conflicted relationship with; I adore some of her work and some leaves my utterly annoyed. Have you read I Capture the Castle? That is the one I love the very best, and I press it on everyone who expresses the least bit of interest!
I hope you are enjoying your California holiday, and many thanks for taking the time to post here. 🙂
I am also in the strangely-smitten-with-Norris camp. I started with Saturday’s Child which, now that I’ve read a handful of her other books, puts much more of a focus on the story and the heroine rather than making every single thing black or white every single time. The morals and the lessons are all the same in the end (though her solution to the husband issue is 10,000x better than just finding a rich older man) but I feel she carried it off with more grace than in these other heavy-handed tales. Which I still can’t resist.
I don’t yet have Saturday’s Child; I do believe it will be the subject of one of my next book searches. I was just saying to my husband that it was timne for another round of ABE orders; it’s been a while since I target-searched for specific books, though I’ve been doing quite nicely with random finds which isn’t always the case.
I am looking forward to reading your reviews of the other books you picked up in this batch, especially “Panther’s Moon”, which I haven’t read myself. I have, however, read Canning’s Arthurian Trilogy, which left a very favourable impression on me, so I am curious to know what you think of another of his works.
I have only read a very few of Victor Canning’s many novels, so I am still in exploration-discovery mode with him. Panther’s Moon is one I am looking forward to reading very soon – it looks to be quite an interesting thriller. I’ll post about it once I read it, I promise. 🙂
Looks like I’ll have to move your blog from my weekly list to the daily list, with all the reviews you have going. :^)
Your casual question “How much for these tired old books?” wouldn’t likely fool anyone. If you’re asking, you’re keen. I have no idea how to dissemble in that area either. But $4 sounds good for something you really want.
Piccadilly Jim, 1917 edition, with colour tinted illustrations?? Oh joy! Do share.
Kathleen Norris. Nope. Not going back there. :^)
I was pretty happy with the $4 quote. While I was going through the box in question, the dealer kept bringing me other things he thought I’d be interested in – mostly old text books, nursing manuals from the 1950s and the like – “People collect these, you know, and I can see you’re really interested in old books!” I explained that it was novels in particular I was keen on, and by a specific range of authors, not just any old thing, but he was certain that the fancier the cover and the heavier the book the more it was worth. There was a stack of Zane Greys which he pointed out to me with pride, and I think he was rather hurt that I didn’t take the bait. Those were $10 each, because he recognized the name. “These are Westerns, you know. Lots of people collect these ones, look at all of these…” 😉
I think we will eventually be seeing a post on Piccadilly Jim. Might save that for later in the spring, when things get super busy and a cheery Wodehouse will be a nice thing to fall asleep with at night!
And yes, Kathleen Norris is touch and go. I shudder at the worst bits, but the best bits keep me reading. Her set-ups are quite well done, and her settings. No accounting for book tastes, is there? I did try Grace Livingston Hill, after I was seduced by Norris, but I couldn’t stomach those, so there you have it – the line in the sand!
Back in my twenties, I spent good money on a signed copy of Kathleen Norris’s Noon, but it was really because I was a big fan of her brother-in-law Frank Norris. How big a fan? Well, for one I bought Noon even though the two hadn’t known each other – Frank Norris died before she met an married his brother Charles G. Norris. I also bought and read Charles G. As I say, I was a big fan.
In all seriousness, I’ve recommended the novels McTeague and Vandover and the Brute to pretty much everyone. If you haven’t read them you are in for a treat.
Bait taken. I see these titles are both on Gutenberg, but I will be searching out early print editions, for all the usual reasons. I see there are a few reasonably priced ones kicking about on ABE, as well as lots of modern editions. (And the usual cut-and-pasted-from-Gutenberg, printed-in-India things.)
[…] ~ Mother by Kathleen Norris ~ 1911. A young woman from a large, poor family is whisked away to a dream job […]
Apologies for the long delay.I was ill after my trip and then madly busy with my new Year 5 class. I know what you mean about Dodie Smith. ‘I Capture the Castle’ has stayed on my to-read list for years although it has always been readily available in Aus. I tried to read ‘The Town in Bloom’ and failed. On the other hand I love her plays and have fond memories of chuckling through ‘Dear Octopus’.