Sarah Orne Jewett House

Carte de Visite

In her formative years, Jewett already began to question for herself the traditional role of women in society. Of her cousin Helen Gilman’s wedding, she wrote in her diary, (October 7, 1867) “…Heaps of tuberoses, orange blossoms and white roses … after Helen Williams Gilman was no more, they went up and congratulated her.”

At the same time, she enjoyed infatuations with girlhood friends like Cicely Burt, with whom she exchanged rings, and whose marriage disappointed her.