Among those who are striving for a permanent place among
short story writers is Edna Ferber, a young woman who makes
her stories interesting through her own keen observation of
character traits revealed in the everyday life about her.
Miss Ferber's work deserves mention among any group of
Wisconsin writers quite as much from the promise of what may
still come as from that already accomplished. Her ability to
see the real in character and the truth in real life is the
strong characteristic of her work. She has attempted to
follow somewhat closely the language of the everyday life she
portrays.
Edna Ferber's short stories, many of which have appeared in
various magazines, have been collected into books published
under the titles of "Buttered Side Down," "Dawn O'Hara,"
"Roast Beef Medium," and "Personality Plus." These stories
are unified through the two characters portrayed, Dawn O'Hara
and Mrs. Emma McChesney. It is probable that much of her own
struggle and much of her aspiration for women is portrayed in
these two characters. She hopes to show that women may make
an undisputed place for themselves in the professional and
business life.
The first of these characters is a young Irish woman who has
devoted her energies to the mastering of the city newspaper
reporter's work. Through the story of Dawn O'Hara's
struggles, Edna Ferber has been able to give many interesting
comments upon the toil and thrills of this nerve-racking
work. At the same time she has been able to paint the
struggle of the young writer to produce the first book, to
picture German Milwaukee in a most interesting manner, and to
make some interesting comments upon mutual helpfulness.
Emma McChesney is an example of the extraordinarily
successful business woman. Despite the most discouraging
conditions, she works her way from the beginning of a firm's
least inviting employment to the complete management of its
affairs. All the time she is inspired by the desire to give
her son the best education and the best start in life and to
assist him to the most manly character possible. The author
rewards Emma McChesney with the full realization of her
ambitions.
Edna Ferber was born in Appleton, Wisconsin. Her home was a
humble one, but was able to provide her with the opportunity
for high school education and a very little work in Lawrence
College. After graduating from high school, she did work for
the Appleton Crescent in the capacity of news collector and
reporter. Through this work she began to realize her powers
and at the same time she trained herself to that keen
observation of character which constitutes one of the
greatest pleasures in her work. Appleton's stores, hotels,
newspapers, and working life in general became her laboratory
in which to study the characteristics, defects, and
aspirations of human life as she finds it. As she has
achieved greater success in her writing she has widened her
sphere of acquaintanceship and of helpfulness. Her present
home is Chicago.
The selection from her writings which we are permitted to
give here is chosen because it illustrates her style and at
the same time gives a vivid picture of one phase of the life
of Wisconsin's metropolis. It is a chapter taken from her
book, "Dawn O'Hara," and is entitled, "Steeped in German."