Anya Seton

A Writing Life

By: Lucinda H. MacKethan

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

Anya Seton was the best-selling author of ten historical novels, including the masterpieces Katherine and The Winthrop Woman, which are still widely beloved over 60 years after their publication; yet there has never before been a book-length biography about this great American writer.

Ann Seton was born in 1904 the daughter of two celebrity writers: Ernest Thompson Seton and Grace Gallatin Seton. At age 36 and self-renamed Anya, she placed her first novel with a major publisher. Anya the author was protective of her private life yet also mused, "I suppose I write myself over and over again in my heroines." She reinvented herself within carefully researched historical settings and biographical materials that provided both escape and wish-fulfillment. In journal entries, letters, and "self-analyses," she provides an intimate study of what it meant to her to be a writer. She wrote probably her own best epitaph while working on her masterpiece, Katherine: "My forte is story, and a peculiarly meticulous (fearful, yes) desire to weave historical fact into story. Make history come alive and as exciting as the past is to me."

©2020 Lucinda H. MacKethan (P)2020 Tantor

Well-researched bio

As a longtime fan of Anya Seton, and also an aspiring writer myself, I was excited to listen to this book on my walks. It did not disappoint.

It was helpful to hear about Seton’s techniques as a researcher and writer and also how agonizing it can be. Also, inspirational especially since she had three children.

To be sure, there sometimes is too much extraneous information, particularly about her parents, but they were famous in their own right and so it helps to see the big picture of her life.

Catherine and Winthrop Woman are her best books. I still and occasionally read them. These books are very well researched, and a great way to learn about history.

Finally, her life reads like a novel itself. Bravo to her biographer MacKethan!