When Patty Went to College - Webster, Jean

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Résumé :
When Patty Went to College is Jean Webster's first novel, published in 1903. It is a humorous look at life in a women's college at the turn of the 20th century. Patty Wyatt, the protagonist of this story is a bright, fun-loving, imperturbable young woman who does not like to conform. The book describes her many escapades on campus during her senior year at college. Patty enjoys life on campus and uses her energies in playing pranks and for the entertainment of herself and her friends. An intelligent young woman, she uses creative methods to study only as much as she feels necessary. Patty is, however, a believer in causes and a champion of the weak. She goes out of her way to help a homesick freshman, Olivia Copeland, who believes she will be sent home when she fails three subjects in the examination. The end of the book sees Patty reflecting on what her life after college might be like. She plays hooky from chapel and meets a bishop. In a chat with the bishop, Patty realizes that being irresponsible and evasive at a young age could adversely affect her character as an adult and decides to try to be a more responsible person. This is Jean Webster's earliest published work, and not as popular as her better-known novels Daddy-Long-Legs (1912) and Dear Enemy (1915). Webster later wrote Just Patty (1911), which describes Patty's school days, and predates this story by around five years. The novel was published in the U.K. by Hodder and Stoughton in 1915 as Patty & Priscilla. (wikipedia.org)...

Biographie:
Alice Jane Chandler Webster (July 24, 1876-June 11, 1916), an American author whose works include Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy, used the pen name, Jean Webster. Her most well-known works include young female protagonists who are engaging and likable and who mature intellectually, ethically, and socially. Her books also contain just the right amount of humor, snappy dialogue, and subtly cutting social criticism to appeal to modern readers. The birthplace of Alice Jane Chandler Webster is Fredonia, New York. She was the oldest child born to Charles Luther Webster and Annie Moffet Webster. With her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother all sharing a home, she spent her early years in a strongly matriarchal and activist environment. Her great-grandmother advocated for temperance, and her grandmother for women's suffrage and racial equality. Mark Twain's mother was his niece, and Alice's father was the business manager of the 1884-founded Charles L. Webster & Company, which later published many of Mark Twain's works. The company started out well, and when Alice was five, the family moved to a sizable brownstone in New York, along with a vacation home on Long Island. However, the publishing house encountered problems, and things with Mark Twain got worse and worse.