The story of The Lonely Doll was in large measure Dare's own story. In the book, a tour de force of wish fulfillment, she found a way to make things right, providing her alter ego, Edith, with love and rescue in the form of two male teddy bears, the father and brother whose real-life counterparts she had lost when she was young. She ceaselessly sought that rescue in her own life, which was spent posing, playing dress-up, and retreating into a fantasy in order to remain her mother’s "good and precious daughter," as if holding on to her mother and her mother’s love depended on that.
-- Jean Nathan, The Secret Life of The Lonely Doll: The Search for Dare Wright
Dare Wright was an intelligent and very talented person, especially skilled at design and photography. Such talents led to hours of enjoyment for fans for her books, largely telling the story of a doll named Edith and two bears that she lived with, pictures taken by the author provided in lieu of illustrations. The doll itself was a childhood gift from her mother Edie, a portrait painter, and the fact the stories was but a reflection of Dare’s own life and thoughts is not much of a stretch. She too was a lonely child, but no big father figure saved her. No, instead, her parents divorced at a young age, her father and brother going away from her, seemingly forever (the siblings reunited; the father died young).
Dare Wright’s own story is rather sad. Her mother was distant, but controlling, setting up a fantasy world of sorts with Dare as but a supporting character. Nathan’s book portrays the mother as a bit of a monster, but the reader is left somewhat sympathetic, since the mother’s own life was not a happy one. The way of coping is often less than desirable, and it does not justify, but does lead to understanding. No matter, Dare never did truly grow-up, helped by those who thought of her as a sort of fairy tale princess, pretty and ultimately untouchable … but lovely to know and be around.
This develops into a sad book. The reader wants her mother to go away or die, but she seems to be with Dare forever, and we realize that they are tied together, for better or for worse. What catches our imagination is the true breadth of the fantasy type existence that Dare Wright’s life becomes. Her brother is a tragic and lonely figure and their bond is strong. Her mother develops quite a number of connections with the rich and famous as does Dare in her way. Dare also uses photographs to create her own fantasy world, which ultimate leads to the Edith and the Bear books. And, once this fantasy world basically collapses, it is truly tragic to behold.
The true pull of this book, however, is the photographs. The distant memory of the cover of The Lonely Doll is what first drove the author to investigate the Dare Wright’s story. The picture on the cover is one of Edith, her striking face appearing to look at the camera, a book open on her lap (years before, Edie drew a portrait of Dare quite like it). The strikingly real photos of Edith and her bears (including a fetish sort of shot of Mr. Bear spanking Edith, after one of her many naughty adventures) as well as those of Dare (a few nudes) and some people in her life are a wonder to behold. [It is unclear if any are of the duplicate Edith, named Replica by her creator, but the very name suggests the charming genius of the author.]
The photographs along with the technique of using photos to tell a story led me to wonder if this would not this be a great way to write a book? One way to do so would be to have a collection of short stories or essays, each using photographs (one or more) as a dominant part of the exposition. A photo, perhaps, might bring back memories of past events or be the launching pad of a mystery. Or, more in the character of Dare Wright’s books, stories or reflections might be inspired by the photograph, or a series of them would tell a story. This is obviously not a revolutionary idea – many of us have volumes of photographs that bring back memories, some with little blurbs labeling them for us. Nonetheless, it can be taken to the next level with more description and detail supplied.
A final word. When the author first attempted to find a copy of The Lonely Doll in the 1990s, before its recent reprinting, she had some trouble doing so. A check of Amazon will tell you that it would be a lot easier to do so now, a hard cover copy not too hard or expensive to come by, even of those in the series that were not reprinted. Also, the person that first helped Jean Nathan learn about her subject was involved creating a new Edith adventure. I wonder if her fans felt it was truly in the same spirit. After all, new Bugs Bunny cartoons seem a bit off … not quite how I remember the character, though they have certain charms of their own.
[In a related note, of sorts, is a new indie film entitled Off The Map. Starring Sam Elliott, Joan Allen, and a young find named Valentina de Angelis, it concerns a family living a fantasy sort of existence in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico. The father for some reason has suddenly began horribly sad, and the family does not quite know how to deal with the matter.
A young tax official from the IRS, who is fighting inner demons of his own, comes by to acquire about why they have not file a tax return for five years (mainly since their income is now around $5000 … this is c. 1970). He too is snagged into their world, the wonders of which are captured by on location filming. It’s a special film, one of the few worthwhile ones so far this year.]