Opal Whiteley’s “Explores: The Disappearing Region

O p a l W h i t e l e y ’s “E x p l o r e s ”: T h e D i s a p p e a r i n g R e g i o n C a t h r y n H a l v e r s o n N o w I sit h e r e a n d I p r in t . T h e b ab y sle e p s o n . T h e w in d c o m e s c r e e p ­ in g in u n d e r t h e d o o r . It c a lls, “C o m e , com e, p etite Fran ç o ise , c o m e .” It c a lls t o m e t o c o m e go e x p lo r in g . It sin gs o f t h e t h in g s t h a t ar e t o b e fo u n d u n d e r le av e s. It w h isp e r s t h e d r e a m s o f t h e t a ll fir tr ees. It d o e s p ip e t h e g e n t le so n g t h e fo r e st sin gs o n gr ay d ay s. I h e a r all t h e v o ic e s c a llin g m e. I list e n . B u t I c a n n o t go . — O p a l W h it e le y , T h e St o ry o f O p al Eller y Se d gw ic k , in r e c a llin g h is lo n g te n u r e as e d ito r o f th e A t lan tic M on th ly , m u sed , “It w as t o w o m e n t h e n t h a t m y t h o u gh t s o ft e n e st tu r n ed , an d a sc o r e o f lon ely, se lf- d e p e n d e n t h isto r ie s w ere w o v e n in to th e t e x tu r e o f t h e A t lan tic ” (H ap p y Pro fessio n 2 0 0 ). T h e tu r n in to th e t w e n t ie t h cen tu r y is n o t a b le fo r a su r ge o f A m e r ic a n in te r e st in t h e p u b ­ licat io n , r e ad in g, an d p u b lic d iscu ssio n o f w o m e n ’s au to b io gr ap h y , p a r ­ ticu lar ly t h a t w r it t en in d iar y fo rm . T h is in te r e st m an ife sts it se lf th r o u gh a clu st er o f r e la t e d literary v o gu es: fo r y o u n g w o m e n d e scr ib in g th eir in m o st d esir es (d e r isiv e ly d u b b e d “n a k e d so u l- lad ie s” ), fo r litt le girls r ec o r d in g t h e ir “in n o c e n t ” im p r essio n s o f t h e w o r ld ar o u n d t h...