Publication Date: February 1, 2024
A fascinating reimagining of the overlooked, complicated life of Thomas Mann’s translator, Helen Lowe-Porter
The literary giant Thomas Mann balked at a female translator, but he might well owe his standing in the Western canon to a little-known American woman, Helen Lowe-Porter. Based closely on historical source material, Jo Salas’s novel Mrs. Lowe-Porter sympathetically reveals a brilliant woman’s struggle to be appreciated as a translator and find her voice in a male-dominated culture. Married to the charming classicist Elias Lowe, whom she met and fell in love with while in Munich, the story weaves one woman’s journey as her husband Elias’s career soars and her translation work earns Mann the Nobel Prize. The novel celebrates Helen Lowe-Porter as she learns to risk stepping out from the long shadow of the dominating men of her life to become a person of letters in her own right.
A woman living in the early 20th century finds herself caught between the desire to become a writer and the social pressures of the time period.
Author Jo Salas loosely bases her novel, Mrs. Lowe-Porte, on the life of Helen Lowe-Porter, the author’s grandmother-in-law. Helen is historically known in literary circles for her translation work for Horace Mann.
The story traces Helen Porter’s arrival in Europe, which coincides with her meeting Elias Loew. Their story, including the change in spelling of the last name, unfolds throughout the pages. Although Helen is a talented writer, she sets aside her dreams in favor of supporting Elias. She finds success translating books into English, but in spite of her efforts, her own stories were rejected.
The book covers events between 1906 to 1963. Some chapters leap back and forth, which can be rather confusing. Viewed through the lens of that time period, Helen is portrayed as an intelligent, gifted woman who lived a life of sacrifice.
Mrs. Lowe-Porter offers an illuminating glimpse into a time period when women often had to set aside their dreams or hide behind an obscure identity to find success.
Jo Salas is a New Zealand-born writer of fiction (DANCING WITH DIANA, Codhill Press) and nonfiction. Winner of the Pen & Brush prose contest and nominated for a Pushcart Prize, she is a co-founder, performer, and chronicler of Playback Theatre. She lives in upstate New York.
