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When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Jane Hamilton (1957-present) dreamed of being a writer; from a young age, she wrote imaginative stories and poems, impressing her peers and teachers alike. Despite this, Hamilton was discouraged from pursuing either writing or editing as a career. She pushed past warnings against the viability of becoming a writer to publish such award-winning novels as The Book of Ruth (1988) and A Map of the World (1994).
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenWhen you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Jane Hamilton (1957-present) dreamed of being a writer; from a young age, she wrote imaginative stories and poems, impressing her peers and teachers alike. Despite this, Hamilton was discouraged from pursuing either writing or editing as a career. She pushed past warnings against the viability of becoming a writer to publish such award-winning novels as The Book of Ruth (1988) and A Map of the World (1994).
Jane Hamilton was born on July 13, 1957, in Oak Park, Illinois. She showed an interest in writing and books from an early age, even winning several writing awards in grade school and university. Despite this natural talent, she was often told that writing was not a good career choice throughout her early years.
Fig. 1 - Jane Hamilton grew up in Illinois, though she would later associate more closely with Wisconsin.
Briefly persuaded away from becoming an author, she became interested in an editing career. However, she was also advised against editing professionally. This was because she had always struggled with spelling in school. Despite this, Jane Hamilton attended Carleton College to study English. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1979, then took an internship position as an editor for Dell Publishing.
Though in her early life Jane Hamilton had been advised against a career in writing or editing, she had a very supportive professor at Carlton College. One day, Hamilton overheard him telling someone else he believed she would write a novel someday. This confidence boost helped Hamilton to keep writing despite the doubts of others in her life.
On her way to begin the editing internship, she stopped at a Wisconsin apple orchard owned in part by a friend of hers. Enchanted by the operation and the farmhouse its workers lived in, Hamilton would soon return to the orchard. She worked on the farm during harvest times and then focused on her writing in the off-season. There she met Bob Willard, one of the orchard owners; they fell in love and married in 1982.
Fig. 2 - Jane Hamilton's writing career took off when she decided to work on an apple orchard where she could write during the off-season.
Jane Hamilton applied for several graduate programs but was not accepted into any of them. This did not hold her writing career back, though—in 1983, her short story "My Own Earth" was published in Harper's Magazine, and her career was launched. Then The Book of Ruth, her first novel, was published in 1988. Jane Hamilton next published A Map of the World in 1994, and The Short History of a Prince in 1999.
In 2000, after the release of her first three novels, the Wisconsin Library Association recognized Jane Hamilton as a Notable Wisconsin Author.
Jane Hamilton's writing is well-known for focusing on characters finding hope despite tragedy. She often bases her settings and plot points on her life experiences.
All of Jane Hamilton's novels are set in or feature scenes set in Wisconsin. Hamilton has lived most of her life in Wisconsin, continuing to reside on the apple orchard where she met her husband. She lives there to this day.
Fig. 3 - Jane Hamilton's works are frequently set in Wisconsin, where she still lives.The Book of Ruth is about a girl named Ruth who lives in an impoverished family in a small American town. Her father abandoned the family, her brother is brilliant and left to attend MIT, and her mother is unsupportive. She eventually gets tangled up with Ruby, a local boy with a less-than-stellar reputation. Their eventual marriage leads to tragedy. The novel discusses themes such as isolation, violence, and compassion as Ruth finds herself in an unhealthy relationship and then must find the courage to move forward when the life she had always known is torn apart around her.
This novel was the first that Jane Hamilton published. While she entered the literary stage with her short story "My Own Earth" in 1983, The Book of Ruth earned her a greater reputation and is now the work she is best known for. This book exemplifies Jane Hamilton's typical focus on stories of characters in difficult situations managing to find hope.
Hamilton's first published book, The Book of Ruth, received several awards and honors. These include the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award in 1989, the 1989 Wisconsin Library Association Banta Book Award, the 1989 Great Lakes College Association New Writers Award, and selection for the October 1996 Oprah's Book Club.
A Map of the World is about a family living on a farm in the rural United States. Their lives were simple and happy until one day the mother, Alice, briefly leaves the little girls she is supposed to be watching unattended, and one of them tragically drowns in a pond. Alice slowly loses the community's support as her neighbors turn against her. She finds her life being torn apart by the effect of a single moment.
Furthering Jane Hamilton's reputation as a great American author, A Map of the World quickly became a bestseller and received critical praise. The novel addresses the theme of forgiveness. Not only does Alice seek forgiveness from those around her—particularly from the mother of the little girl who died under her watch—but she also needs to forgive herself. Because this theme is one that many readers can connect with on a personal level, the book has enjoyed popularity since its release.
In addition to her most famous works, The Book of Ruth (1988) and A Map of the World (1994), Jane Hamilton has written five other books. These are The Short History of a Prince (1998), Disobedience (2000), When Madeline Was Young (2006), Laura Rider's Masterpiece (2009), and The Excellent Lombards (2016).
The following quote from The Book of Ruth describes experiencing love for the first time. Even surrounded by poverty and violence, Ruth focuses on feelings like this rather than lashing out. Ruth has also felt very isolated throughout much of her life—she lives in a small town, and her own family members are mostly distant from her. This quote also shows Ruth's deep desire for connection and communication.
"I heard the phrases and I wanted all of me to call out in a song, a song that doesn't have words, a song that almost doesn't have noise. A lot of people take a short cut and call that feeling of song love. They just call it that because there isn't a way to describe it. But the word love doesn't describe the half of it. It doesn't do anything to bring to mind the song we all want so desperately to sing." (The Book of Ruth, ch. 21)
The quote below is also from The Book of Ruth. Here, Ruth muses on the importance of love and compassion. Though she has lived in poverty and her familial relationships have not always been positive, Ruth believes in the necessity of holding on to the good things in her life and leaving behind the meanness and bitterness she could otherwise foster.
"We're only passers-by, and all you can do is love what you have in your life. A person has to fight the meanness that sometimes comes with you when you're born, sometimes grows if you aren't in lucky surroundings. It's our challenge to fend it off, leave it behind us choking and gasping for breath in the mud. It's our task to seek out something with truth for us, no matter if there is a hundred-mile obstacle course in the way, or a ramshackle old farmhouse that binds and binds." (The Book of Ruth, ch. 22)
The following quote from A Map of the World is from the very beginning of the book. It introduces from the outset Alice's shock and bewilderment at the terrible predicament she lands in after the tragic death of her daughter. Though the accident was sudden, Alice's fall from grace in the eyes of her community creeps up on her.
"I used to think if you fell from grace it was more likely than not the result of one stupendous error, or else an unfortunate accident. I hadn't learned that it can happen so gradually you don't lose your stomach or hurt yourself in the landing. You don't necessarily sense the motion. I've found it takes at least two and generally three things to alter the course of a life: You slip around the truth once, and then again, and one more time, and there you are, feeling, for a moment, that it was sudden, your arrival at the bottom of the heap." (A Map of the World, ch. 1)
A Map of the World is about a family living on a farm in the rural United States. Tragedy strikes and their lives begin to unravel, all stemming from one event.
Jane Hamilton is an American author. She is best known for her novels The Book of Ruth (1988) and A Map of the World (1994).
Jane Hamilton has written and published seven works.
Jane Hamilton was born July 13, 1957 in Oak Park, Illinois.
The Book of Ruth is about a girl who lives in an impoverished family in a small town. It discusses isolation, violence, and compassion.
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SIGNUP SIGNUPFlashcards in Jane Hamilton35
Start learningIn what year was Jane Hamilton born?
1957
Where was Jane Hamilton born?
Oak Park, Illinois
True or false: Jane Hamilton was never interested in writing until after she earned her bachelor’s degree.
True
What college did Jane Hamilton earn her bachelor’s degree from?
Carleton College
What did Jane Hamilton study in college?
English
Why was Jane Hamilton advised against an editing job?
She was not a good speller in school.
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