Author Information
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  • Bibliography:
    18 Books
  • First Book:
    January 1945
  • Latest Book:
    February 2009
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About the Author

Mary Jessamyn West (July 18, 1902 – February 23, 1984) was an American author of short stories and novels, notably The Friendly Persuasion (1945).

A Quaker from Indiana, she graduated from Fullerton Union High School in 1919 and Whittier College in 1923. There she helped found the Palmer Society in 1921.

She died of a stroke at the age of 81 in Napa County, California.

Book List in Order: 18 titles



  • 1981, mass market paperback reprint edition (of a work first published in 1945), Penguin Books, NY. 243 pages. The author's first novel, concerning a Quaker family. Became a beloved film starring Gary Cooper....





  • Brimming "with humor and charm and youthful animal spiritsThere is much true wisdom in Cress Delahanty." (The New York Times) West writes "gracefully, occasionally poetically, in a voice both innocent and brave." (The Washington Post) Set in rural Ca...




  • From Book 1: She has strict rules about dating. Max Legend breaks them all.

    Katie Green has big dreams. She's had them since she can remember and she has the lists to prove it.

    They include: 
Go to college. 
Graduate. 
Go to l...








  • Mary Pratt Rivers - known as "Leafy" - is a young bride whose lusty spirit forces three men to face questions of love and commitment, freedom and responsibility. Simon Yanders is a man whose grief gives way to joy for a moment with Leafy; Cashie Wad...






  • A Companion to The Friendly Persuasion -- These further adventures of Jess and Eliza Birdwell, the beloved hero and heroine of The Friendly Persuasion, are cause for celebration to the millions who have met them in Jessamyn West's memorable book or...



  • An uncommon collection of Sixteen short stories by the author of "The Friendly Persuasion". The stories range from: a tale of Suspense - a Romantic idyll - a touch of the Supernatural - a young man's pursuit of a Lost Love - a Joyous narrative in the...




  • Narrates the reactions of a small 1824 Indian settlement to the capture, trial, conviction and execution of five white men for the premeditated murder of nine peaceful men, women and children of the Seneca tribe...



  • In a memoir filled with compassion and deep resolve, West celebrates the lives of three women-her strong Quaker mother, her beloved and courageous sister, and herself-and gives personal insight into her own battle to survive tuberculosis....



  • Sparkling with Jessamyn West's special gifts of poetic language and vivid detail, this is a powerful portrait of Orpha Chase, a writer whose blissfully sentimental books contrast acutely with her own difficult life....



  • In a small California town in the years before 1920 a young bride, on the eve of her wedding, accepts her uncle's invitation to remember earlier times....



  • In thirty-six stories, West rings changes in time and presents a startling sweep of personalities and moods. Her themes span the breadth of experience, from the bite of misery to the balm of delight. Her achievement, taken totally, is a spectrum of l...



  • Jessamyn West's spirited novel set in the Ohio Territory in the early 1880s is a handsomely paced adventure for lovers of period romance and suspense. Leafy Rivers is a young bride caught up in emotions she does not altogether understand and canno...


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Jessamyn West has published 18 books.

Jessamyn West does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Leafy Rivers, New Edition, was published in February 2009.

The first book by Jessamyn West, The Friendly Persuasion, was published in January 1945.

No. Jessamyn West does not write books in series.