The Celebrity

by Winston Churchill

Not the British Winston Churchill. This Winston Churchill (1871-1947) was an American novelist. He attended Smith Academy in Missouri and the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1894 and became an editor of the Army and Navy Journal. He resigned from the navy to pursue a writing career. While it is claimed that his first novel was The Celebrity, published in 1898, a question arises where his novel called Mr. Keegan's Elopement should be placed, because it was published two years earlier in (1896) within a magazine. Later in 1903 it was republished as an illustrated hardback book. His next novel called Richard Carvel, was published the next year. It was a phenomenon, literally selling by the box-car as many as two million copies in a nation of only seventy- six million, and that book made Churchill rich. His next two novels, The Crisis (1901) and The Crossing (1904), were also very successful. In 1917, he toured the battlefields of World War I and wrote about what he saw, his first non-fiction work. Sometime after this move, he took up watercolours, and also became known for his landscapes.

Genres: Fiction

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1897

About the author

This is not the British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Spencer Churchill. This is the American novelist, Winston Churchill.

Churchill was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Edward Spalding and Emma Bell (Blaine) Churchill. He attended Smith Academy in Missouri and the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1894 and became an editor of the Army and Navy Journal. He resigned from the navy to pursue a writing career. While he would be most successful as a novelist, he was also a published poet and essayist.

His first novel was The Celebrity (1898). (Mr. Keegan's Elopement was published in 1896 within a magazine. In 1903 it was republished as an illustrated hardback book.) Churchill's next novel—Richard Carvel (1899)—was a phenomenon, selling as many as two million copies in a nation of only 76 million, and made Churchill rich. His next two novels, The Crisis (1901) and The Crossing (1904), were also very successful.

Churchill's early novels were historical but his later works were set in contemporary America. He often sought to include his political ideas into his novels. Churchill wrote in the naturalist style of literature, and some have called him the most influential of the American naturalists.

In 1899, Churchill moved to Cornish, New Hampshire. He became involved in politics and was elected to the state legislature in 1903 and 1905. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor in 1906. In 1912, he was nominated as the Progressive candidate for governor but did not win the election. He did not again seek office. In 1917, he toured the battlefields of World War I and wrote about what he saw, his first non-fiction work.

Sometime after this move, he took up watercolors, and also became known for his landscapes. Some of his works are in the collections of Cornish Colony Museum in Windsor, Vermont, Hood Museum of Art (part of Hopkins Center for the Arts Dartmouth College) in Hanover, New Hampshire, and Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire.

In 1919, Churchill decided to stop writing and withdrew from public life. As a result of this he was gradually forgotten by the public. In 1940, The Uncharted Way, his first book in 20 years, was published. The book examined Churchill's thoughts on religion. He did not seek to publicize the book and it received little attention. Shortly before his death he said, "It is very difficult now for me to think of myself as a writer of novels, as all that seems to belong to another life."

Churchill died in Winter Park, Florida in 1947. He is the great-grandfather of Albany, New York, journalist Chris Churchill.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston...]

Reviews

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book in a 2nd hand shop and only bought it and then read it because it was by Winston Churchill. Turns out - after I had finished it - that it was a different Winston Churchill! I did wonder how he knew so much about the USA, even if he did have an American mother! Still, is is whodunit, part romance, part detective novel set in the American Great Lakes district in the late 19th century. And it is a page turner. I couldn't put it down, so keen was I to know the ending. Although I thoroughly enjoyed it, I can sympathise with a reviewer, mentioned at the end where Churchill's other novels are advertised, who said: "Mr Churchill's work, for one reason or another, always commands the attention of a large reading public"

[Jsn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book. It was, as all W. Churchill's books are, well-written. Story not too deep but it is entertaining. Still think Richard Carvel his best work.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book!
Very good. Very funny. Exciting.
I loved the characters, especially the main character, the story, the settings.
This book was first published in 1897.

[S.r. Lundin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed all of Churchhill's novels, despite the archival quality of most of the texts.