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The Open Door is a luminous and profoundly moving novel inspired by the life of Constance Fenimore Woolson, one of the most widely-read and respected American authors of the nineteenth century. Exploring themes of passion, life, death, friendship, and art, the novel is a vivid evocation of the complex forces behind literary creation.
After years of supporting her mother and a hapless brother through her writing, Constance Woolson finds herself “hungry, ravenous to see and live as much as possible.” She sails for Europe with a letter of introduction to Henry James, the writer she admires above all others. Constance is intoxicated by Europe, Italy in particular. Travel eases her lifelong battle with depression and provides a distraction from the pain of tinnitus which will grow increasingly unbearable. Constance and Henry James eventually meet in Florence. James is delighted by this highly intelligent, independent woman (whom he dubs “Fenimore” as a sign of his esteem) and makes her his confidante. For her part, Constance finds with James “the unequalled joy of never running out of things to say.”
Constance’s courageous, open nature is at odds with James’s more secretive one and friction, transgression, and revenge both private and public are central to their story. Elegantly conceived and life-affirming, The Open Door is an unforgettable portrait of a remarkable woman who lived with passion and refused to accept the narrowing of her world.
"Starred Review. Maguire's vivid depiction of those complex exchanges is utterly absorbing." - Publishers Weekly.
"A small episode in literary history becomes a feisty but self-justifying and vaguely melancholy tale." - Kirkus Reviews.
"This novel will appeal not only to historical fiction readers but also to literary fiction readers, who will be interested in the blurred boundaries between author and text." - Library Journal.
This information about The Open Door was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Elizabeth Maguire (1958–2006) was born in New York City and had a distinguished twenty-five-year career as an editor and publisher. She published one novel, Thinner, Blonder, Whiter (2003) during her lifetime and had just completed The Open Door at the time of her death from ovarian cancer in 2006.
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