Louise Fitzhugh, a Consummate Lesbian: Sometimes You Have to Lie by Leslie Brody
The year 1996 was monumental for young girls who loved to read and write, thanks to the releases of the film adaptations of Matilda by Roald Dahl and Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. These films brought to life the stories of two girls, one who loved to read, and one who loved to write. Unlike Matilda Wormwood, who used books throughout her childhood to escape from her horrific surroundings, eleven-year-old Harriet M. Welsch felt as though writing was her job, insisting that she was "going out to work" when adults would tell her to go outside and play. Growing up in the late nineties, the stories of both of these young girls felt vital to me, but as I've grown older, Harriet feels more relatable to me. As a queer writer, Leslie Brody's revealing biography of Louise Fitzhugh filled me with the wonderment of Matilda and the determination of Harriet all over again.
On the back cover copy, Alison Bechdel reveres Fitzhugh thusly: "And what a lesbian!" I had known Fitzhugh was a lesbian, but since little of Fitzhugh's history was widely known before this biography was published, I had assumed she was closeted, and not that she was, by all means, as "out" as societal norms would allow at the time. Fitzhugh was, as a once-boyfriend's wife would put it, "a lesbian in that Green-Witch Village." Friends described her as "elfin" and "childlike" in composure, and though she was lively and sociable, her uncle Peter noted that, from a young age, Fitzhugh was "a tough-minded young woman, a person already fighting for her existence."
Very few queer people, even those who became famous authors, survived the twentieth century without some degree of fighting for their lives. Not only did Fitzhugh grow up in the Jim Crow South in the 1930s, but she was also the only child of two parents whose divorce was acrimonious enough to be the talk of the town for the formative years of her life. She was raised by her father and his family, who lied to her about Fitzhugh's mother having died while she was young. Other familial betrayals, and her discovery of her own sexuality in high school and college, led her to further distrust others. Her fight for her existence became a personal one, as well.
Brody weaves a detailed, lush narrative of Fitzhugh's early adulthood in Greenwich Village, New York, with gentle reminders that she was required to hide part of herself while having the time of her life. While Fitzhugh lived "out," there were still considerable barriers in her way. Before a charming scene where Fitzhugh and her long-term girlfriend, Alixe Gordin, met Janet Gaynor, an Oscar-winning actress, who "gave them her benediction - 'You two kids look so happy together,'" Brody notes that "law and custom forbade any outward display of affection." Throughout her life, it seems that every moment of happiness hinges on the caveat that, at any moment, it can all be taken away. This caveat is painfully relatable for queer readers, and while it's invaluable to have these insights about Fitzhugh's life, it's an important reminder that hers was a life she had to fight for.
This theme persists as we come to the publication of Suzuki Beane, Fitzhugh's first book, written by Sandra Scoppettone, another writer and artist in Fitzhugh's circle of lesbian artists in New York in the late 1950s and 1960s. Up until the publication of her first book, Fitzhugh had been trying to sustain a career as a visual artist, mostly in painting and illustrating. Suzuki Beane was written by Scoppettone and illustrated by Fitzhugh. Its success at capturing the beatnik and hipster culture of New York in the early 1960s was a double-edged sword: it was meant to be a "downtown satire" of Kay Thompson's Eloise, and while Suzuki Beane was loved for a brief window, unlike Eloise, it is now out of print. Still, Suzuki Beane gave Fitzhugh the opportunity to branch out into a field she had yet to explore: children's literature.
Using the same determination and charm with which she found her community of artists in Greenwich Village, Fitzhugh found a community of writers and editors in New York. Chief among the players in getting Harriet the Spy published was Ursula Nordstrom, the children's books editor for Harper & Row. Brody pulls a perfect quote from Nordstrom: "I couldn't possibly be interested in books for dead dull finished adults, and thank you very much but I have to get back to my desk to publish some more good books for bad children." According to a collection of Nordstrom's letters entitled Dear Genius, when Nordstrom came across Fitzhugh's budding story of a consummately "bad" girl, she became enamored, and she and her senior editor, Charlotte Zolotow, "drew Harriet out of Louise." Though Fitzhugh would eventually go on to have a falling out with Nordstrom and Zolotow over creative differences, the trust that they instilled in her was integral in getting Harriet the Spy out into the world.
Brody's dedication in highlighting every character in Fitzhugh's journey is what makes it clear that, while she had to hide parts of herself from the world at large, Fitzhugh was never fully alone. Many queer narratives focus on one's "found" family, in lieu of an unaccepting upbringing, and Fitzhugh was able to find a family in other artists, including the poet James Merrill and Maurice Sendak. Coming away from this book, I'm left wondering what her life might have bene like, had she not faced a myriad of obstacles including but not limited to her upbringing and her being a queer female artist in the late twentieth century. Fitzhugh's untimely death at the age of 46 leaves a string of unanswered questions about what her future might have looked like, questions that no one, not even the great Harriet M. Welsch, would be able to answer. Still, Fitzhugh's legacy is cemented in every young girl who picks up the iconic story of a curious, unapologetic, and brash eleven-year-old, and puts the book down with her heart set on writing.
Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy
by Leslie Brody
2020. 352 pages.
About Ellie Musgrave
Ellie Musgrave is a writer and amateur roller skater living in Brooklyn, NY.
