Alice James's posthumous recognition

Very interesting at the end of Jean Stouse's bio Alice James to read excerpts from and read about AJ's diary, written in the last decade or so of her life, as she was a near-complete invalid and constant patient, in London - and kept secret from pretty much everyone but her partner, Katharine Loring - even devoted bro Henry, or maybe especially Henry, was not aware - KL had diary published privately some years after AJ's death, just 4 copies, one to each surviving bro.; HJ in particular highly distressed about some of the acerbic comments about many living people - and also highly impressed w/ the quality of the diary; he was AJ's greatest fan, and only he I think understood the acuity of her insights and intellect. Oldest brother William had no capacity to praise any of his siblings, including HJ, whose work he often snidely dismissed or disparaged. JH had a very insightful comment about this diary, noting that as it revealed the depth of AJ's illness it also elevated her stature - the diary form was perfect for her as an invalid, allowing her to stand at one remove from the society around her, a disinterested observer. A novelist does that as well, but takes the further step of transforming material through imagination and creation; the diarist is more focused inward, and records as she sees and feels. AJ's diary also seems to be in part a memoir, as she tries to recollect some events and moments from earlier in her life - but the real power is the sharp wit and the self-deprecatory tone. Throughout this bio I was thinking about Emily Dickinson and was not surprised to see that others had as well; it's tempting to see AJ as similar to ED in that both published little or nothing during their lifetime and have gone through a resurrect and posthumous apotheosis, ED in particular. Actually, they are quite different: ED more truly the outsider artist, living a solitary and sheltered life and writing poems that broke new ground stylistically and were far ahead of their time (she reminds me more directly of the photog Vivian Meyer, working in obscurity, trying shyly and awkwardly to publish or exhibit, discovered posthumously); AJ, in contrast, is the consummate insider artist - I have to suspect that part of the interest in her diary comes from, first of all, he connection to famous writers (esp Henry) and second from her access to the goings-on of literary and intellectual salons. I think that, had a working-class woman kept a similar diary in the 19th century it would hardly be studied and analyzed, at least as a literary work), let alone published or even preserved. Not to say that she craved fame in the way her older bros did - she, too, could state w/ ED "I'm nobody" - but her work is best understood within the family context; how well would it stand in isolation? I almost think from the excerpts in this bio, that her best work was in her letters; sad that Aunt Katherine destroyed so many. Wonder why.