The Wind, a supernatural novel by Dorothy Scarborough

Dorothy Scarborough

Dorothy Scarborough was an American writer who wrote about Texas, folk culture, cotton farming, ghost stories and a woman's life in the Southwest.-Early life:...

 depicts the loneliness of life in a small Texas town during the 1880's. It was later made into a film called The Wind

The Wind

The Wind is a 1928 American dramatic silent film directed by Victor Sjöström. The movie was adapted by Frances Marion from the novel The Wind written by Dorothy Scarborough. It features Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson, Montagu Love, Dorothy Cumming, and others...

(1928) starring Lilian Gish. She originally published this novel anonymously anticipating a rough reception in Texas.

According to Texas folklorist J. Frank Dobie

J. Frank Dobie

James Frank Dobie was an American folklorist, writer, and newspaper columnist best known for many books depicting the richness and traditions of life in rural Texas during the days of the open range...

, this novel "excited the wrath of chambers of commerce and other boosters in West Texas--a tribute to its realism."

The Handbook of Texas online says of the work:

This last, controversial, novel, in which a gentle heroine is driven insane by the incessant wind and drought-plagued frontier environment, has assured her reputation as an American regional novelist. The book created a furor in Texas when it was published because of its negative portrayal of frontier living conditions on the cattle ranges around Sweetwater in the 1880s. The book was also published anonymously as a publicity ploy. Today, however, many critics regard this novel as a Texas classic, notable for its characterization of a tragic heroine driven to murder and insanity.

Critical Essays/Reviews

Handbook of Texas Online, biographical page of Dorothy Scarborough, (accessed December 31, 2006).

Publication details

• 1925, USA, Harper & Brothers (ISBN NA), pub date ? ? 1925, hardback (first edition)
• 1925, UK, Harper & Brothers (ISBN NA), pub date ? ? 1925, hardback
• 1979, USA, University of Texas Press, pub date March 1979, hardback (ISBN 978-0-292-79012-4) and paperback (ISBN 978-0-292-79013-1)
• 1986, USA, University of Texas Press (ISBN 978-0-292-79036-0), pub date August 1986, paperback (reprint ed)