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John Jakes, often called the people's author and godfather of the historical novel, has made American history come to life in his series The Kent Family Chronicles and The North and South Trilogy. Through these novels, Jakes conveys the sweep of American history, both its glory and its grim scenes, from the American Revolution to the opening moments of the 20th century. Never glossing over the nation's flaws (slavery, materialism, a double-edged Manifest Destiny), Jakes nevertheless affirms American values. This is the first full-length critical study of his work. It examines in detail Jakes' 13 major novels to date and assesses his methods as America's history teacher.
In Part I, following a chapter on Jakes' life, Jones examines the early novels and Jakes' use of the genres of historical fiction, the western, and the historical family sage. Part II, The Kent Family Chronicles, devotes an individual chapter to each of the novels in this series,
The Bastard,
The Rebels,
The Seekers,
The Furies,
The Titans,
The Warriors,
The Lawless, and
The Americans. Part III, New Beginnings, features chapters on
North and South,
Love and War, and
Heaven and Hell, and chapters on
California Gold and
Homeland. The examination of each novel in this study includes sections on plot development, character development, and thematic issues. Jones also offers an alternative critical perspective from which to read each novel-such as feminist literary criticism, New Historicism, Marxist criticism, and Deconstructionism-that gives the reader an alternative viewpoint from which to consider the novel. A complete bibliography of all of John Jakes' work, works about John Jakes, and a listing of reviews of all the novels examined in the book concludes the study.
List of contents
Series Foreword by Kathleen Gregory Klein
Biography and Genres"The People's Author: The Life of John Jakes"
"From Apprentice to Master Craftsman: The Many Genres of John Jakes"
The Kent Family ChroniclesThe Bastard
The Rebels
The Seekers and The Furies
The Titans
The Warriors
The Lawless
The Americans
New BeginningsNorth and South, Love and War, and Heaven and Hell
California Gold
Homeland
Bibliography
About the author
MARY ELLEN JONES is Director of American Studies and Associate Professor of English at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. Among other works, she is author of
The American Frontier (1994),
Christopher Columbus and His Legacy (1992), and
John Jakes: A Critical Companion (Greenwood, 1996).
