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Author: Alice Hegan Rice
Illustrators: Norma and Dan Garris
Storyline: Mrs. Wiggs, a widow, is left to raise five children in dire poverty, but faces life with optimism and hope. (This book was a bestseller for two years when originally published, and was adapted for a stage and screen several times, with one version in 1934 featuring W. C. Fields)
Copyright: 1901
Published: 1962
Publisher: Whitman Publishing Company, Wisconsin
Format: Photo-printed hardcover
Page Count: 138
Author Biography:
Rice, Alice Hegan (b.1870-d.1942) was an American novelist born in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Known as the author of her most famous work, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, Rice published over two dozen books in all. Many were produced in other languages, and are still in publication today. A best seller in 1902, the book was set in Louisville, Kentucky where she then lived, Mrs Wiggs was both a successful play in the early 1900s, and the basis of three Hollywood films. The 1934 version starred W. C. Fields. The story of Mrs. Wiggs was meant to bring attention and public sympathy to the plight of the less fortunate in the region where Rice lived. Married to Cale Young Rice (1872-1943), author, dramatist, and poet, Mrs. Rice rubbed elbows with other literary stars of the day, such as Thorton Wilder, and was well reviewed by Theodore Roosevelt.
Works include: Lovey Mary (1903); Sandy (1905); Captain June (1907); Mr. Opp (1909); A Romance of Billy-Goat Hill (1912); The Honorable Percival (1914)
