Barbara Newhall Follett
Encyclopedia
Barbara Newhall Follett was an American child prodigy
novelist. Her first novel,The House Without Windows, was published in 1927 when she was thirteen years old. Her next novel, The Voyage of the Norman D., received critical acclaim when she was fourteen.
In 1939 she became depressed with her marriage and walked out of her apartment with just thirty dollars when she was twenty-five years old. She was never seen again.
, Barbara Follett was schooled at home and was writing poetry by age four. Her first novel, The House Without Windows, was published when she was thirteen years old, with the help and guidance of her father.
When she was fourteen her father left her mother for another woman, a devastating blow to Barbara who was deeply attached to her father. The family fell upon hard times, and at the age of sixteen, as the Great Depression
was gaining momentum, Follett was, from necessity, working as a secretary in New York.
While still a teenager, she married Nickerson Rogers. Follett believed that Rogers was unfaithful, and became depressed. She left her apartment after a quarrel with Rogers on December 7, 1939, with thirty dollars in her pocket, and was never seen again. She was twenty-five years old.
Rogers did not contact the police until two weeks later, and requested a missing persons bulletin four months after that; no serious effort to find her was ever made by anyone. Her body was never found, no evidence either indicating or excluding foul play was ever produced, and the date and circumstances of her death were never established.
. Follett was thirteen years old, and famous.
Her next novel, The Voyage of the Norman D., based on her experience on a coastal schooner in Nova Scotia
, was published in 1928, again to critical acclaim in major publications. Follett was fourteen, and had reached the apex of her life and career, as this was the time when her father abandoned her mother.
She wrote two more books – the novel Lost Island and Travels Without a Donkey, a travelogue (the title plays on Robert Louis Stevenson
's Travels with a Donkey) – which were never published.
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
novelist. Her first novel,The House Without Windows, was published in 1927 when she was thirteen years old. Her next novel, The Voyage of the Norman D., received critical acclaim when she was fourteen.
In 1939 she became depressed with her marriage and walked out of her apartment with just thirty dollars when she was twenty-five years old. She was never seen again.
Personal life
The daughter of critic and editor Wilson FollettWilson Follett
Wilson Follett was a writer, known now almost exclusively for his book Follett's Modern American Usage, which was unfinished at his death and was therefore completed and edited by his friend Jacques Barzun and published posthumously...
, Barbara Follett was schooled at home and was writing poetry by age four. Her first novel, The House Without Windows, was published when she was thirteen years old, with the help and guidance of her father.
When she was fourteen her father left her mother for another woman, a devastating blow to Barbara who was deeply attached to her father. The family fell upon hard times, and at the age of sixteen, as the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
was gaining momentum, Follett was, from necessity, working as a secretary in New York.
While still a teenager, she married Nickerson Rogers. Follett believed that Rogers was unfaithful, and became depressed. She left her apartment after a quarrel with Rogers on December 7, 1939, with thirty dollars in her pocket, and was never seen again. She was twenty-five years old.
Rogers did not contact the police until two weeks later, and requested a missing persons bulletin four months after that; no serious effort to find her was ever made by anyone. Her body was never found, no evidence either indicating or excluding foul play was ever produced, and the date and circumstances of her death were never established.
Writing career
Her first novel, The House Without Windows, was accepted and published in 1927 by the Knopf publishing house to critical acclaim by the New York Times, the Saturday Review, and H. L. MenckenH. L. Mencken
Henry Louis "H. L." Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, acerbic critic of American life and culture, and a scholar of American English. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the...
. Follett was thirteen years old, and famous.
Her next novel, The Voyage of the Norman D., based on her experience on a coastal schooner in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, was published in 1928, again to critical acclaim in major publications. Follett was fourteen, and had reached the apex of her life and career, as this was the time when her father abandoned her mother.
She wrote two more books – the novel Lost Island and Travels Without a Donkey, a travelogue (the title plays on Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
's Travels with a Donkey) – which were never published.
Publications
- Follett, Barbara Newhall. (1927). The house without windows & Eepersip's life there. New York, London: Knopf. (Reprinted 1968, New York: Avon Camelot.)
- Follett, Barbara Newhall. (1928). The voyage of the Norman D.. New York, London: Knopf.