Author: Gail Ward Olmsted

Publisher: Black Rose Writing

ISBN: 978-1-68433-721-7

Living in Montreal, I have often roamed through the many picturesque, twisting pathways of one of the city’s landmarks, Parc Mont-Royal. The gifted American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted planned and sculptured this magnificent park. Fred also designed over thirty major city parks during his forty-year career, including New York City’s Central Park, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, and the U.S. Capital grounds in Washington. D.C., Yosemite National Park, and dozens of college campuses, hospital grounds, and individual residences.

Who was Fred? We know he was born in1822 in Hartford, Connecticut, and died in 1903? How about his family life? Was he married, and if he was, did his spouse have any sway on him? Did he have any offspring? 

Gail Ward Olmsted, the author of Landscape of a Marriage, informs her readers that “she felt compelled to write the story of Frederick Law Olmsted and his marriage to his widowed sister-in-law Mary for one simple reason: To paraphrase writer Toni Morrison, ‘I wrote it, because I wanted to read it!’ By the way, Gail’s husband was a distant cousin of Fred.

The narrative opens in 1858, where we meet twenty-eight-year-old Mary returning to New York from England. She had visited all over Europe with her husband, Dr. John Hull Olmsted, and her three children seeking a remedy for her husband. The physicians had already diagnosed John with tuberculosis. Unfortunately, despite all endeavors, John passed away in Europe at thirty-two. 

Upon her return to New York, Mary asks her brother-in-law Fred to aid her. She never expected that her appeal would wind up as a proposal of marriage. Mary confesses that Fred’s affection for her was initially more like that of an older brother, “not a besotted bridegroom.” She even questioned if Fred regretted marrying her and taking on the burden of a wife and three children. Fred felt a commitment to his brother John to wed Mary and take care of her youngsters.

At the commencement of their marriage, Fred admitted that he knew very little of love and married Mary out of a sense of duty. However, over the years, as we learn, this changed where Mary thoroughly captivated him, and he became hopelessly in love with her. Their fondness for one another developed into a rich and enduring passion. They experienced many years of devotion through health, ill health, loss of offspring, and their many moves in New York, Washington, California, Brookline, and Deer Isle, Maine. 

Incidentally, the celebration of their marriage transpired when Fred and his partner, Calvert Vaux, were drafting an 800-acre tract in Manhattan, which ultimately became known as Central Park. This eventually led Fred and his partner Cal on their path to developing into the most sought-after landscape architects, and the rest is history. 

There has been a considerable amount of information written about Fred, yet, we know little about Mary. The author admits she has taken significant liberties concerning the true nature of Mary and Fred’s relationship. It really is a tale that is easy to imagine. Olmsted has done her homework in re-creating the historical setting, and when you’re done reading, the realism and sentiments will cause you to believe it is genuine. In addition, in spare and elegant prose, she effectively unfolds the many events that brought the couple together in a true enduring loving relationship.

Most of us are acquainted with the proverb, “Behind every great man is a great woman.” Could it be that Mary, with her unceasing loyalty and inspiration to Fred, was an admirable example?