Reading Life into Novels

This chapter examines how readers read their lives into Jarrettsville as the novel transitioned from the field of production to the field of reception. To read one's life into a novel means to make sense of it using the tools that one possesses. For different readers the same novel can effectively be different novels. Some readers, for example, loved Jarrettsville whereas others did not. For some, it was about love and loss; for others, it was about fear and violence. The chapter first analyzes Cornelia Nixon's intentions for Jarrettsville before discussing readers' interpretations of the novel. In particular, it explores how the character of Richard Cairnes was seen by book groups. It shows that Southern book groups most often held the complex interpretation of both holding Richard responsible for the outcome of the story while also being sympathetic to him as a character.