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THE DOLLMAKER Author: Harriette Arnow MONTICELLO, KY Artist: Devan Ryan Carpenter GEORGETOWN, KY Sponsor: Martha Billips and Byron Young |
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Harriette Arnow (1908-1986): The Dollmaker
Wayne County, Ky., native Harriette Louisa Simpson Arnow published five novels, two non-fiction works, one collection of short fiction, and one biography, but she is best known for her landmark 1954 novel, The Dollmaker, which chronicled the outmigration of Appalachians to Detroit during World War II. The Dollmaker, made into a film starring Jane Fonda, spent 32 weeks on the best-seller list. It became one of the most famous Appalachian novels of the 20th century and still remains in print. The Dollmaker was runner up for the 1955 National Book Award behind William Faulkner’s A Fable and runner up for the Pulitzer Prize the same year, edged again by Faulkner’s A Fable.
Wayne County, Ky., native Harriette Louisa Simpson Arnow published five novels, two non-fiction works, one collection of short fiction, and one biography, but she is best known for her landmark 1954 novel, The Dollmaker, which chronicled the outmigration of Appalachians to Detroit during World War II. The Dollmaker, made into a film starring Jane Fonda, spent 32 weeks on the best-seller list. It became one of the most famous Appalachian novels of the 20th century and still remains in print. The Dollmaker was runner up for the 1955 National Book Award behind William Faulkner’s A Fable and runner up for the Pulitzer Prize the same year, edged again by Faulkner’s A Fable.
Devan Ryan Carpenter:
I was inspired by two scenes in Harriette Arnow’s The Dollmaker. In the first, I used bright colors to illustrate the hope of the main character, Gertie Nevels, as she dreams of the day her family would have their own farm. The second scene, where I used a darker color palette, brings the sorrow and angst Gertie feels by being uprooted from her home and thrust into the unknown environment of Detroit. In both scenes, Gertie carries her heritage … her dolls. Devan Ryan Carpenter is a painter living in Georgetown, Ky.
I was inspired by two scenes in Harriette Arnow’s The Dollmaker. In the first, I used bright colors to illustrate the hope of the main character, Gertie Nevels, as she dreams of the day her family would have their own farm. The second scene, where I used a darker color palette, brings the sorrow and angst Gertie feels by being uprooted from her home and thrust into the unknown environment of Detroit. In both scenes, Gertie carries her heritage … her dolls. Devan Ryan Carpenter is a painter living in Georgetown, Ky.