Biography
She was born as
Eleanor Hodgman in
Littleton, New HampshireLittleton is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,928 at the 2010 census. Situated at the edge of the White Mountains, Littleton is bounded on the northwest by the Connecticut River....
on December 19, 1868, the daughter of Francis Fletcher Hodgman and Llewella Woolson. She was trained as a
singerSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, attending New England Conservatory for several years, but later turned to writing. In 1892, she married John Lyman Porter and moved to
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. That is when she began writing and publishing her short stories and later novels. She died in
Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
on May 21, 1920 and was buried at
Mount Auburn CemeteryMount Auburn Cemetery was founded in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery", or the first "rural cemetery", with classical monuments set in a rolling landscaped terrain...
.
Works
Porter mainly wrote
children's literatureChildren's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
,
adventure storiesThe adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme.-History:...
and romance fiction. Her most famous novel is
PollyannaPollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature, with the title character's name becoming a popular term for someone with the same optimistic outlook. The book was such a success, that Porter soon produced a sequel, Pollyanna...
(
1913The year 1913 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Husayn Haykal publishes the first modern Egyptian novel Zaynab.-New books:* Alain-Fournier — Le Grand Meaulnes* L...
), later followed by a
sequelA sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
,
Pollyanna Grows UpPollyanna Grows Up is a 1915 children's novel by Eleanor H. Porter. It is the first of many sequels to Porter's best-selling Pollyanna , but is the only one written by Porter herself; the numerous later additions to the Pollyanna franchise were the work of other authors.-Plot...
(
1915The year 1915 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* May 3 - In Flanders Fields is written by Canadian poet John McCrae....
).
Her adult novels include The Turn of the Tide (1908), The Road to Understanding (1917), Oh Money! Money! (1918), Dawn (1919), Keith's Dark Tower (1919), Mary Marie (1920), and Sister Sue (1921); her short story collections include Across the Years (c. 1923), Money, Love and Kate (1923), Little Pardner (1926).
Porter achieved considerable commercial success: in 1913, Pollyanna ranked eighth among bestselling novels in the United States, second in 1914, and fourth in 1915 (it went through forty-seven printings between 1915 and 1920); in 1916,
Just DavidJust David is a 1916 children's novel by Eleanor H. Porter. It was among the top six bestsellers in cities across the United States in 1916, and in July 1916 it was the second bestselling novel....
ranked third; in 1917, The Road to Understanding ranked fourth; in 1918, Oh Money! Money! ranked fifth.
Short stories
- A Delayed Heritage
- A Four-Footed Faith and a Two
- A Matter of System
- A Mushroom of Collingsville
- A Patron of Art
- Angelus
- Crumbs
- Millionaire Mike's Thanksgiving
- That Angel Boy
- The Apple of Her Eye
- The Daltons and the Legacy
- The Elephant's Board and Keep
- The Folly of Wisdom
- The Glory and the Sacrifice
- The Indivisible Five
- The Lady in Black
- The Letter
- The Saving of Dad
- When Mother Fell Ill
- When Polly Ann Played Santa Claus
Novels
- Cross Currents (1907)
- The Turn of the Tide (1908)
- The Story of Marco (1911)
- Miss Billy (1911)
- Miss Billy's Decision (1912)
- Pollyanna
Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature, with the title character's name becoming a popular term for someone with the same optimistic outlook. The book was such a success, that Porter soon produced a sequel, Pollyanna...
(1913)
- The Sunbridge Girls at Six Star Ranch (1913)
- Miss Billy Married (1914)
- Pollyanna Grows Up
Pollyanna Grows Up is a 1915 children's novel by Eleanor H. Porter. It is the first of many sequels to Porter's best-selling Pollyanna , but is the only one written by Porter herself; the numerous later additions to the Pollyanna franchise were the work of other authors.-Plot...
(1915)
- Just David
Just David is a 1916 children's novel by Eleanor H. Porter. It was among the top six bestsellers in cities across the United States in 1916, and in July 1916 it was the second bestselling novel....
(1916)
- The Road to Understanding (1917)
- Oh, Money! Money! (1918)
- The Tangled Threads (1919)
- Dawn (1919)
- Mary Marie (1920)
External links