For the contemporary poet/essayist of the same name (b.1947), see Kathleen Norris (poet)

Kathleen Norris (poet)

for the novelist Kathleen Norris, see Kathleen NorrisKathleen Norris is a best-selling poet and essayist. She became known for her writings about Christian spirituality, especially after she became a Benedictine oblate and spent two extended periods at Saint John's Abbey in Minnesota...

Kathleen Thompson Norris (July 16, 1880, San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

 – January 18, 1966, Palo Alto, California

Palo Alto, California

Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...

) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 novelist and wife of fellow writer Charles Norris

Charles Gilman Norris

Chuck Gilman Norris was a U.S. novelist.He was the brother of novelist Frank Norris, and the husband of author Kathleen Norris. A native of Chicago, Norris worked as a journalist for some years before finding success as a novelist and playwright. His first book was The Amateur 1916...

, whom she wed in 1909. Her brother-in-law was writer Frank Norris

Frank Norris

Benjamin Franklin Norris, Jr. was an American novelist, during the Progressive Era, writing predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include McTeague , The Octopus: A Story of California , and The Pit .-Life:Frank Norris was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1870...

.

Life and career

Norris was educated in a special course at the University of California

University of California

The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

 and began her career as a newspaper writer in San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

. She started writing stories, and eventually had several published in magazines before turning her attention to novel-writing. Norris wrote many popular romance novels that some considered sentimental and honest in their prose. She was the highest-paid female writer of her time, and many of her novels are held in high regard today. Many of her novels were set in California, particularly the San Francisco area. They feature detailed descriptions of the upper-class lifestyle. After 1910 she contributed to the Atlantic

The Atlantic Monthly

The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...

, The American Magazine, McClure's

McClure's

McClure's or McClure's Magazine was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with creating muckraking journalism. Ida Tarbell's series in 1902 exposing the monopoly abuses of John D...

, Everybody's

Everybody's Magazine

Everybody's Magazine was an American magazine from 1899 to 1929.The magazine was founded by Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker in 1899, though he had little role in its actual operations....

, Ladies' Home Journal

Ladies' Home Journal

Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...

and Woman's Home Companion

Woman's Home Companion

Woman's Home Companion was an American monthly publication, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s....

. Norris was also a member of the America First Committee

America First Committee

The America First Committee was the foremost non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II. Peaking at 800,000 members, it was likely the largest anti-war organization in American history. Started in 1940, it became defunct after the attack on Pearl Harbor in...

, which opposed American intervention in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

At least two of her novels were made into films: My Best Girl (1927), starring Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...

 and Manhattan Love Song (1934), which was released under the title Change of Heart

Change of Heart (1934 film)

Change of Heart is a 1934 American drama film starring Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, James Dunn, and Ginger Rogers. The movie, about a quartet of college chums who all move to 1934 New York City, was written by James Gleason and Sonya Levien from Kathleen Norris's novel, Manhattan Love Song and...

, starring Janet Gaynor

Janet Gaynor

Janet Gaynor was an American actress and painter.One of the most popular actresses of the silent film era, in 1928 Gaynor became the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: Seventh Heaven , Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and Street Angel...

.

Her granddaughter Kathleen Norris (San Francisco 1 Mar 1935-San Francisco 8 Dec 1967) was a wife of Prince Andrew Romanov

Prince Andrew Romanov

Prince Andrew Andreevich Romanoff is a Russian prince and artist.-Biography:He was born in London, United Kingdom, the youngest child of Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia and his first wife Elisabetha Sasso-Ruffo...

 (b.London 21 Jan 1923).

Selected bibliography

• Mother (1911; new edition, 1913)
• The Rich Mrs. Burgoyne (1912)
• Poor Dear Margaret Kirby (1913)
• The Treasure (1914)
• Saturday's Child (1914)
• The Story Of Julia Page (1915)
• The Heart of Rachel (1916)
• Martie the Unconquered (1917)
• Josselyn's Wife (1918)
• Harriet and the Piper (1920)
• The Beloved Woman (1921)
• Little Ships (1925)
• The Sea Gull (1925?)
• The Foolish Virgin (1927)
• Younger Sister (1928)
• Second Hand Wife (1932)
• Maiden Voyage (1934)
• Beauty's Daughter (1935), adapted for the 1935 motion picture Navy Wife
• Shining Windows (1935)
• Bread into Roses (1936)
• Over at the Crowleys (1941)
• The Venables (1941)

External links

• Guide to the Norris Family Papers at The Bancroft Library
• Kathleen Norris entries as found in Library of Congress Online Catalog search
• Kathleen Norris Obituary, New York Times
• Kathleen Norris Obituary, TIME Magazine