She struggled in school however, she thrived when given opportunities to write, in many cases skipping class when the urge struck her to put her pen to paper and tell a story. In 1960, she was the first female elected to the Society, and she gifted the royalties of her works to the AAS following her death in 1967.Īs a child, Forbes was considered an abysmal student due to dyslexia and poor eyesight. They moved to Worcester when she was seven years old, and later in life, she would spend her days writing and researching with her mother’s help at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester. In a review in The Independent, O Genteel Lady! was described as “A distinguished first novel, written with ease and a mastery of technique unusual in a young writer.' Indeed, Forbes was a master of her craft, and to this day remains one of the premier contributors to historical and historical fiction writing.īorn in Westboro, Massachusettes on June 28, 1891, Esther Forbes was the fifth of six children in her family. Her first published novel, O Genteel Lady! was selected as the second book for the Book of the Month Club, ensuring her book was sold to a wide readership. Most well known for her books, Paul Revere and the World He Lived In (1942) and Johnny Tremain (1943), Forbes’ writing garnered her attention from the outset. Historian and writer Esther Forbes had a knack for bringing the life and experiences of the past to present-day readers through the pages of her books.

Esther forbes