DuJardin, Rosamond Neal

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DuJARDIN, Rosamond Neal

Born 1902, Fairland, Illinois; died 27 March 1963

Daughter of Edgar and Ida May Neal; married VictorDuJardin, 1925

Rosamond Neal DuJardin, a popular writer best remembered for her honest, direct novels about teenagers, began her career as a fiction writer for the Chicago Daily News in 1930, but soon moved on to sell more than 100 stories to magazines such as Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, and McCall's. DuJardin's first novels, published between 1935 and 1946, were written for adults and often appeared first in magazine serial form.

Honorable Estate (1943), like many of DuJardin's works, takes place in a small town in Illinois. A young man brings his bride of a day home to the unwelcoming astonishment of his mother and tyrannical grandfather. Although the year is 1940, their lives revolve around petty, small-town gossip, not world events. The narrowness of convention destroys the newly formed marriage contract by demanding suffocating sacrifices that the young wife cannot accept. Malicious tongues also account for two unnecessary deaths and the destruction of a doctor's previously unblemished reputation. Only those who are able to break out from social bonds find love and happiness, leaving those behind locked in a suspicious prison of their own making. DuJardin writes a solid and engaging narrative that may lack depth but nonetheless brings the value of skepticism and open-mindedness within popular reach. Her characters are easy to identify with, her language is vivid, and her plots are filled with the unpredictable.

In 1949 DuJardin wrote her first book for teenagers entitled Practically Seventeen, and she enjoyed the experience so much that she never went back to writing for adults. She followed this first young adult novel with 16 others, all of which were greeted with enthusiastic reviews. DuJardin takes teenage novels beyond their usual insipid level of romance and morality to create natural, authentic fiction that deals honestly with the problems of adolescence. She stresses the need for teenagers to lend a helping hand to each other themselves, understanding that there are some aspects of being 17 that adults know nothing about.

In Double Wedding (1959), DuJardin writes a tale of believable romance. The novel does not end with the finding of true love, but begins with it. Pam and Peggy have already found their prospective husbands, and DuJardin explores the challenges and problems that come up in every serious relationship. There is no starry-eyed romance here. It is rather the awakening of two young girls learning to cope with love, learning how to fit it into their individual career dreams, their need for personal space, and their need for friends. DuJardin is writing for teenagers but she is dealing with the adult problems adolescence is all about; she understood and respected her audience as individuals and there is no condescension in her narratives.

Other Works:

All Is Not Gold (1937). Only Love Lasts (1943). Brief Glory (1944). Tomorrow Will Be Fair (1946). Wait for Marcy (1950). Class Ring (1951). Double Date (1952). Marcy Catches Up (1952). Boy Trouble (1953). Double Feature (1953). A Man for Marcy (1954). Showboat Summer (1954). The Real Thing (1956). Senior Prom (1957). Wedding in the Family (1958). Junior Year Abroad, with J. DuJardin (1960). One of the Crowd (1961). Someone to Count on (1962). Young and Fair (1963).