The Whole Family

A Novel by Twelve Authors

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by William Dean Dean Howells, Henry James, Elizabeth Jordan, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and Others

Duke University Press

Due/Published October 2001, 416 pages, paper

ISBN 0822328380

The Whole Family is one of the most interesting experiments in American literature. This unusual composite novel numbers among its twelve authors such writers as Henry James, William Dean Howells, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps.

The idea for this collaborative venture originated with Howells in 1906. Under the guidance of Elizabeth Jordan, the editor of Harper's Bazar, each of the authors was invited to write a successive chapter in a story Howells envisioned as a definitive depiction of American family life. But the original plan underwent a dramatic reversal with a controversial chapter by Freeman. From that point, The Whole Family became a more involved story of family misunderstandings and rivalries that actually mirrored the rivalries of the contributors themselves.

Alfred Bendixen's introduction offers the first accurate and complete account of the creation of this novel--uncovering new facts and revealing the turmoil out of which it was shaped. June Howard's preface provides an additional contextual and critical perspective.

Full list of authors. Mary R. Shipman Andrews, John Kendrick Bangs, Alice Brown, Mary Stewart Cutting, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, William Dean Howells, Henry James, Elizabeth Jordan, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Henry van Dyke, Mary Heaton Vorse, Edith Wyatt