Mark and Livy: The Love Story of Mark Twain and the Woman Who Almost Tamed Him

Olivia Langston (1845-1904) married Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) in 1870 and remained his wife for 34 years. In line with the conventions of the times, she saw herself as a wife, mother and ``tamer'' of iconoclastic Twain. However as Willis, literature professor at Drury College in Missouri, points out in this carefully researched, readable biography, Langston was also his valued critic and editor. In humorous anecdotes Twain portrayed ``Livy'' as a shrew--but the relationship between the mild-mannered, self-effacing woman and the cantankerous literary genius was apparently one of deep commitment and love. Their affection for one another, claims Willis, saw them through the rise and fall of their financial fortunes, the death of their daughter and Livy's many illnesses. The author's access to letters and journals gives insight into both husband and wife, as well as providing a portrait of American domestic life in the late 1800s. (May)