A Country Doctor

Sara Orne Jewett (1849-1909) was an American regionalist and feminist writer, in the circle of writers like Willa Cather, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. Born in South Berwick, Maine, Jewett had a happy, peaceful childhood where she developed a strong affinity to the nature and people of rural New England. Her first novel, "A Country Doctor," is a semi-autobiographical work about a young girl's struggle to choose between a medical career and marriage. Like most of Jewett's work, the novel gives a striking, realistic depiction of the world, but also illustrates her more transcendental worldview. Jewett portrays an independent woman whose talents and desires drive her away from the traditional role of wife, and the novels exploration of gender, society, and human nature are as prevalent today as they were upon its publication in 1884.