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Search - List of Books by Jessamyn West

"The past is really almost as much a work of the imagination as the future." -- Jessamyn West
Mary Jessamyn West (July 18, 1902 — February 23, 1984) was an American Quaker (originally from Indiana) who wrote numerous stories and novels, notably The Friendly Persuasion (1945).

West went to Whittier College in the 1920s. There she helped found the Palmer Society, in 1921.

Much of her work concerns Indiana Quakers. Although she was born in Vernon, Indiana she left the state at the age of six when her family moved to California. Asked about this in an interview, she said, "I write about Indiana because knowing little about it, I can create it." Comparing herself to other authors that created fictional universes, she remarked:
"Roth wrote The Breast. Would you ask him how he could do this since he had never been a breast? Adams wrote Watership Down. Would you ask him how he could do this since he admitted his rabbit knowledge came from a book about rabbits? ... And those hobbits!... I am a bigger risk-taker than these others. The Hoosiers can contradict me. No rabbit, hobbit, or breast has been known to speak up in reply to their exploiters."


When The Friendly Persuasion was published, New York Times book reviewer Orville Prescott called it "as fresh and engaging, tender and touching a book as ever was called sentimental by callous wretches... There have been plenty of louder and more insistent books this year, but few as sure and mellow as The Friendly Persuasion."

The novel was adapted into the 1956 movie Friendly Persuasion, starring Gary Cooper and directed by William Wyler. It was nominated for an Academy Award as "best picture." Her experiences as the movie's script writer are described in her autobiographical book To See the Dream.

West lived her last two decades in Napa Valley California, and died from a stroke at the age of 81.

In 2002 the city of Indianapolis selected The Friendly Persuasion as the One Book, One City project for the year.

Except for Me and Thee, the sequel to The Friendly Persuasion, was adapted into a 1975 television movie, titled Friendly Persuasion, starring Richard Kiley.

West was a second cousin of Richard Nixon. Growing up in the same rural Yorba Linda region as Nixon, West attended a Sunday-school class taught by Nixon's father, Frank, whom she described as "a fiery persuasive teacher." She later wrote that Frank Nixon's version of the social gospel inclined her politically toward socialism

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This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Jessamyn West", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
Total Books: 73
Leafy Rivers New Edition
2008 - Leafy Rivers New Edition [Library of Indiana Classics] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780253353023
ISBN-10: 0253353025
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Cress Delahanty
2006 - Cress Delahanty [Contemporary Classics by Women] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781558615168
ISBN-10: 1558615164
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Locke sie wie eine Taube
2006 - Locke Sie Wie Eine Taube (Other)
ISBN-13: 9783765538681
ISBN-10: 376553868X
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The Friendly Persuasion
2003 - The Friendly Persuasion (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780156029094
ISBN-10: 015602909X
Genre: Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 3

The Massacre at Fall Creek
1999 - The Massacre at Fall Creek (Other)Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780808581703
ISBN-10: 0808581708
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Teen & Young Adult
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Stories of Initiation
1999 - Stories of Initiation [Lernmaterialien] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9783125784000
ISBN-10: 312578400X
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Collected Stories of Jessamyn West
1987 - Collected Stories of Jessamyn West (Paperback)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780156189798
ISBN-10: 0156189798
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Hide And Seek A Continuing Journey A Continuing Journey
The Woman Said Yes Encounters With Life and Death
The State of Stony Lonesome
1985 - The State of Stony Lonesome (Hardcover)Paperback, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780151849031
ISBN-10: 015184903X
Genre: Literature & Fiction
  ?

The Life I Really Lived
1981 - The Life I Really Lived [The Penguin contemporary American fiction series] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780140057027
ISBN-10: 0140057021
Genre: Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 2

Double Discovery A Journey
1980 - Double Discovery a Journey (Hardcover)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780151264025
ISBN-10: 0151264023
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

Reader's Digest Condensed Books Vol 104 1975 Vol 3
1980 - Reader's Digest Condensed Books Vol 104 1975 Vol 3 (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780276002021
ISBN-10: 0276002024
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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The Life I Really Lived A Novel
1979 - The Life I Really Lived a Novel (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780151515622
ISBN-10: 015151562X
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 3

Reader's Digest Condensed Books Yanks / The Capricorn Stone / The Massacre at Fall Creek / Whip Hand
Encounters with Death and Life A Memoir
1977 - Encounters with Death and Life a Memoir (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780575022928
ISBN-10: 0575022922
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The Woman Who Said Yes Encounters With Life and Death
1977 - The Woman Who Said Yes Encounters with Life and Death (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780449231289
ISBN-10: 0449231283
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 3

Massacre at Fall Creek
1976 - Massacre at Fall Creek (Hardcover)Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780904000429
ISBN-10: 0904000427
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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Massacre at Fall Creek
1976 - Massacre at Fall Creek (Paperback)Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780330247382
ISBN-10: 0330247387
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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The woman said yes Encounters with life and death  memoirs
1976 - The Woman Said Yes Encounters with Life and Death Memoirs (Hardcover)Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9780151984008
ISBN-10: 015198400X
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Literature & Fiction
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

The Massacre at Fall Creek
1975 - The Massacre at Fall Creek (Hardcover)Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
ISBN-13: 9780151578207
ISBN-10: 0151578206
Genre: Literature & Fiction
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