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The Blue Book of Iowa Women A History of Contemporary Women

Compiled by Winona Evans Reeves, 1914.

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Miss Alice French (Octave Thanet)

A name which stands very near the top in the list of literary women not only of Iowa but of America is that of Octave Thanet, which is the pen name of Miss Alice French of Davenport.  She was born in Andover, Mass., March 19, 1850, descended from a long line of honored men and women, representative of the best American ancestry.  Her father was the Hon. George Henry French who was a prominent legislator of Massachusetts.  She was educated at Abbott Academy in Andover and has traveled and studied all her life, making her a broadly educated woman.  She is a member of the Colonial Dames of America, being the Historian of the National Society.  She is a member of the Mayflower Club of Boston and of the Barnard National Arts Association of New York.  Much of her life has been spent in the east, although she has always claimed Davenport as home.  She has a residence at Clover Bend, Ark., where she spends a part of every year.  She has received many honors, and much praise for her literary work, all of which is merited, and yet she has been wholly unspoiled.  She is a sweet, gracious woman, loved by her friends and sincerely admired by all who know her.  Among the best known of her books are "Knitters in Sun,"  "Expatiation,"  "An Adventure of Photography,"  "Otto the Knight,"  "A Missionary Sheriff,"  "The Heart of Toil,"  "'A Book of True Lovers."  "A Slave to Duty,"  "The Lion's Share," and "A Man of the Hour."

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