Gwen Bristow (1903–1980), the author of seven bestselling
historical novels that bring to life momentous events in American
history, such as the siege of Charleston during the American
Revolution (Celia Garth) and the great California gold rush (Calico
Palace), was born in South Carolina, where the Bristow family had
settled in the seventeenth century. After graduating from Judson
College in Alabama and attending the Columbia School of Journalism,
Bristow worked as a reporter for New Orleans’ Times-Picayune from
1925 to 1934. Through her husband, screenwriter Bruce Manning, she
developed an interest in longer forms of writing—novels and
screenplays.
After Bristow moved to Hollywood, her literary career took off with
the publication of Deep Summer, the first novel in a trilogy of
Louisiana-set historical novels, which also includes The Handsome
Road and This Side of Glory. Bristow continued to write about the
American South and explored the settling of the American West in
her bestselling novels Jubilee Trail, which was made into a film in
1954, and in her only work of nonfiction, Golden Dreams. Her novel
Tomorrow Is Forever also became a film, starring Claudette Colbert,
Orson Welles, and Natalie Wood, in 1946.
“A tremendously vital and exciting story of the founding of a
colonial dynasty.” —The New York Times
“Bristow has the true gift of storytelling.” —Chicago Tribune
Ask a Question About this Product More... |