Sarah Orne Jewett Boston Athenaeum

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Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909)

Sarah Orne Jewett was a prominent 19th century writer whose most famous work, The Country of the Pointed Firs, gained her considerable fame and a place in the canon of American letters. Henry James praised the book for being "so absolutely true-- not a word overdone-- such elegance and exactness." A reviewer of Jewett's work wrote in 1880 that she had already, at the age of 31, begun to attract a devoted audience with her numerous and widely-published short stories.

Much of Jewett's writing centered on friendships and love between women, a theme that was a reflection of the way she chose to live her life. In 1882, Jewett began a relationship with Boston philanthropist and socialite Annie Adams Fields that would last until Jewett's death in 1909. The two shared a deep and intimate union that was known at the time as a "Boston Marriage."

"Boston Marriages," long-term relationships between two women, were not uncommon in the late 19th century among educated, well-off women. While it was clear to the world that the women in these couples were everything to each other, society did not generally think about the sexual possibilities of their relationships. Nor is it clear how the women themselves defined their connection.

While the correspondence between Jewett and Fields, and between many other such couples, is full of intimate endearments and references to physical closeness, it is impossible to tell the exact nature or extent of their physical relationship. It is obvious, however, that they saw a clear parallel between their union and heterosexual marriage.

Over the course of Jewett's lifetime, society's attitude toward Boston marriages began to change. The new science of psychology denounced same-sex love, equating it with arrested development and mental disorder. The impact of this change was evident in the correspondence between Jewett and Willa Cather, a younger writer who looked to Jewett as a mentor. While Jewett wrote openly about the emotional connections between women, Cather often created male characters who may well have been surrogates for herself.

Annie Adams Fields Massachusetts Historical Society

In commenting on Cather's work, Jewett remarked upon the shortcomings of writing in disguise. But Cather, who came of age when society had already begun to view women's relationships with suspicion, was not as willing as Jewett to be direct about women's love for each other.

The growing suspicion of Boston Marriages also affected Fields' decision to publish their correspondence after Jewett's death in 1909. While Fields was quite comfortable having their loving correspondence published for the world to see, her editor insisted that readers might "get the wrong idea." As a result, the true nature of Jewett and Fields' relationship was hidden from view until historians began reading and quoting from the full extent of their letters.