The Velveteen Daughter by Laurel Davis Huber

 

Most people are familiar with the book The Velveteen Rabbit.  This is the story of Margery Williams, the author, and of her daughter Pamela.  While Margery has attained lasting fame, Pamela, who was in her time much more famous has been relatively forgotten.  Pamela was an artist and was hailed as a child prodigy.  As her life progressed, she found it more difficult to capture that same artistic excellence as her health was never good and she spent quite a bit of time in a mental hospital after frequent breakdowns.

The book discusses the people who made up the Williams's world.  They were English but came to the United States sponsored by Gertrude Whitney.  The family was surrounded by others who were figures in the art and literature worlds.  Richard Hughes was a family friend as was Picasso.  Eugene O'Neill was married to Margery's niece.  

But as she grew up, Pamela found herself floating from one romantic obsession to another.  She spent years in love with Richard Hughes, known to the family as Diccon.  He was much older and never thought of her as a romantic interest and she was heartbroken as he formed his own romantic affairs.  She married in haste in her twenties to a man who was unreliable and left her after she had his baby.  She was almost fifty before she found a love that worked for her. 

Laurel Davis Huber has done a superb job of research and written a book that explores the lives of a family.  Margery wrote a series of children's books.  Pamela had her art and later in life, she also wrote and illustrated children's books.  The reader will be drawn into the world of the arts in New York and in the country where the family would retreat to renew their spirits.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers who are interested in fictional treatments of real events.