May Eleanor Sarton, an American poet and novelist, was born in Belgium on 3 May 1912, and was brought to the United States when she was 4 years old.
Sarton was educated in the United States and abroad and has taught and lectured on poetry at a number of universities, including Bryn Mawr and Harvard.
“Encounter in April” (1937), her first collection of lyrics, was followed by many more volumes of poetry. Her first two novels, “The Single Hound” (1938) and “Bridge of Years” (1946) had European settings, but since 1955, New England has provided the background for most of her fiction.
“Faithful Are the Wounds” (1955) tells of a dedicated professor's suicide amid the political pressures of the McCarthy era, and “Kinds of Love” (1970) explores the difficulties and triumphs of human love. “A Reckoning” (1978) and “Anger” (1982) continue this exploration, but the protagonists are now middle aged and less sanguine about the possibilities in human relationships.
In addition to her many novels, Sarton has written a play, a screenplay, and such personal works as “The Hours by the Sea” (1977) and “After the Stroke: A Journal” (1988).