Fanny: A Fiction

Rating:
Summary: Unexpected, yet flawless
Review: Being a virgin reader of historical fiction, I am glad that my first time was with Edmund White's Fanny. His literature has been a rich source of information and emotions for the gay community for years (note the trilogy that begun with A boy's own story), as well as for the society in general (the AIDS related theme and the profound knowledge of the human mind), so the departure towards this genre is very exciting. The story flows between an autobiographical tone and a comical narration, through which we are introduced to the lives of the two Fannys: Mrs. Trollope the narrator, and Miss Wright the subject of most of it. The author knows exactly when to call for a laugh so one does not feel overwhelmed with too much history (the spitting anecdotes of the american men during the first visit of the european ladies to the New World), or how to reckon the current times by association (the description of old New York or Cincinnatti can only make us think of how things have changed to this day!). On the other hand, the "cameo" appearances of known people like Lafayette, Brownings or Jefferson serve to get us all set in time and provoke much more interest in the reader. The only hint about a gay relationship is given almost at the end, but he quickly turns the flashlight to another topic. Overall, this is a book that will not disappoint even the most exquisite taste. Every element that has made Edmund White one of the best writers of our generation is present here, and many more that we get to discover with joy. Enough to count the days until we can dive into his next book.

Rating:
Summary: Fanny Wright, "a blazing, ten log fire sans firescreen."
Review: In this ambiguously entitled novel, Fanny Trollope, writer and mother of Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope, looks back almost thirty years to the late 1820s and her friendship with the notorious Fanny Wright, a utopian visionary who was the first woman to speak publicly as an abolitionist, the first leader of the first labor party, and a radical journalist. In this unfinished (imaginary) biography of the now almost-forgotten Fanny Wright, Fanny Trollope uses flashbacks to explain Wright's development as a firebrand, her association with the intellectual leaders of the day, and the friendship between the two women.

Wright spent much time traveling the "paradise" of the United States, while the financially struggling Fanny Trollope remained in London and Paris, where she met Stendahl, Prosper Merimee, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryant, and eventually the revered Marquis de Lafayette. Fanny Wright and Lafayette had toured the United States together, and biographer Trollope records for posterity their travels and their meetings--with Thomas Jefferson about slavery, with Charles Bonaparte about the "atheistic, utopian, communistic society [of] Robert Owen," and with representatives of the Haitian government about a possible homeland for freed slaves.

When Wright recruits Fanny Trollope to help her promote a 2000-acre colony called Nashoba, near Memphis, the relationship between Wright and Trollope (who brings three of her children with her) comes to life. Wright intends "to liberate the Negro" and to show that "white men and women can live together without God, money, marriage, or even occupation" in an idyllic community, but Fanny Trollope is shocked by the reality of the Nashoba "utopia" on her arrival. She notes "the general slovenliness of the people" and the poverty all along the Mississippi, and comments that she has to lift her skirts to avoid tobacco juice in public places throughout the US. She is horrified that in Robert Owen's New Harmony, small children see their parents only once or twice a year and that many newcomers are freeloaders with no motivation to work.

As the two women and children travel throughout the country, the reader observes their increasingly fragile relationship. Trollope sees life whole, while Wright sees life in ideal terms, failing to recognize people as individuals while setting goals for humanity in general. Trollope is vividly drawn--resourceful, practical, and instinctively warm--while Wright, the subject of the biography, remains, unfortunately, aloof. Filled with the intellectual, social, and philosophical debates of mid-nineteenth century Europe and the United States, this novel is a fascinating study of two thoughtful, intelligent women who tried to make a difference. Mary Whipple

Rating:
Summary: Nifty similes but not very interesting
Review: Okay, so the purported author is a rambling old woman in her 70s, but that doesn't mean you will want to bear with this meandering narrative. There isn't much to pull you through--smashing idols with feet of clay? Yawn. Gore Vidal is so much more satisfyingly acidic. Concern for any of the characters? Not much. Fanny T. escapes what little peril she's in during one short chapter. White's descriptions of the characters who populate are marvelous but it's not worth the long sludgy haul to get to them. I'm fond of some of White's other work and thus am disappointed in this one.