H.P. Lovecraft and Sarah Susan Phillips

H.P. Lovecraft's relationships are a subject of many pages in bibliographies and articles about the writer, but one interaction that doesn't take up too much space is the story of Lovecraft and Sarah Susan Phillips — one of the stranger and lesser-known chapters in his history. To understand the importance of this link, we must take into account not only Lovecraft's character but also his personal history.

A Short Bio of H.P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890–1937) was an American writer of weird fiction, esoteric horror and weird horror who is known for creating the Cthulhu Mythos. It Just Cares/Does NotI came to realize that Lovecraft in his tales repeatedly touches upon themes of forbidden knowledge, dark gods, cosmic indifference and fragile human sanity. Although largely unappreciated in life Lovecraft would go on to become one of the most influential (posthumously) writers of 20th-century horror.

Lovecraft is also known to have been almost pathologically reclusive in his private life, but worse still are the disturbing opinions he held irregularly about race, culture, and life itself. He had few relationships, and the only significant romantic relationship he had was with Sarah Susan Phillips whom he married in 1924. But their tale is hardly run-of-the-mill romance.

The Other Woman In Lovecraft’s Life – Sarah Susan Phillips

Sarah Susan Phillips, aka Sonia H. Greene (her pen name), was a writer, editor and businesswoman who became involved with Lovecraft in the early 1920s. Before she met Lovecraft, she was living a full, complicated life of her own. Sonia, born January 24, 1883, in Brooklyn, New York was modern for her time — a writer and publisher who had established herself as a novelist and magazine editor with reputable experience in the pulps where Lovecraft's stories saw frequent publication.

Sonia was a brilliant and vibrant woman, and their relationship would change the course of both their lives. Not just an accomplished writer, but well-read in business matters; the clueless Lovecraft—frequently broke himself—was going to depend on this side of her abilities in their marriage. Her independence was a balance to Lovecraft's more cloistered, introspective life.

Lovecraft and Sarah Susan Phillips: The Meeting

Greene was deeply involved in the pulp fiction market when she met Lovecraft in 1922. In his time working within the small literary community surrounding weird fiction, Lovecraft had been writing letters to different other writers and editors, and it was in these professional avenues where Sonia first came upon Lovecraft. They wrote back and forth, developing a mutual affection.

Greene so immediately captivated Lovecraft with his intelligence and writing, that a long and heated correspondence quickly ensued. Lovecraft's letters to her, by contrast, reveal the more bookish side of him. He talked a lot about his writing, his ideas regarding literature and the world, including compete with detailed & insight-full criticism of her writings. But their letters soon blossomed into something more intimate, and Lovecraft felt free to declare in writing how he felt about Greene, despite having never before had a romantic entanglement–in fact, proudly claiming to despise all women.

Sonia Greene, for her part, was entertained by Lovecraft's eccentricities but she also noted his pessimism and tendency to retreat into a fantasy world. Lovecraft had other issues, of course — crippling shyness, inability to comfortably relate in social situations with most anyone beyond his wife (also shadowed by writer Ellen), shining through — and she got that all these things were incredibly frustrating for him. But she admired his intellectual vigor, and liked the style of his thinking, a trait that eventually resulted in their relationship blossoming into something more.

Getting Married and Moving to Providence

Lovecraft and Greene got married in 1924 after exchanging letters for two years and developing love feelings. Sonia, who had faced monetary hardships living in New York, went to live with Lovecraft in Providence Rhode Island. Lovecraft was at this point in a financial bind. Though he was a driven, ambitious writer (he wrote short stories and articles for magazines, along with editing) none of his work could support a wife. This financial uncertainty would be a significant stressor on their marriage.

There were a good many hardships in Providence for the couple. Sonia was more economically independent than Lovecraft, having to buttress their household with her various business endeavors, specifically as a magazine editor and writer. She remained writing as an author of novels and stories, often in the realm of the supernatural, a subject matter that certainly reflected Lovecraft's interests but completely changed the mood and emphasize.

He may have had difficulty making ends meet but a Lovecraftian home was still Mrs. Lovecraft, as a couple seemed to be able to make it alright after all. Sonia was able to offer both pragmatic and emotional support, eventually becoming one of Lovecraft's few confidants. She and Lovecraft corresponded on and off, with Sonia also assisting in the promotion of Lovecraft's work by introducing him to new publishing avenues and possibly contacts in literary circles.

Marriage Strain From Separation

Though the couple began their marriage in an atmosphere of intellectual equality and respect, the relationship gradually fell apart. Much of the stress in the marriage was also likely caused by financial stress, Lovecraft's persistent health issues (especially his recurring depression), and his failure to find regular work as an author. One of the many tensions between Lovecraft and his wife was a sort of slow transfer, appropriate at this point in a story about marriage, from the mental to the material: Lovecraft’s inability to put food on their table. Sonia became successful in her own right, but she had wanted — and deserved — a partner rather than being the one to keep Lovecraft, who, brilliant writer though he was, never out-earned her.

As it goes in these high drama relationships the intensity often spins martyr-ish or self-indulgent and thank goodness Lovecraft had his pen because the marriage also struggled through storms of increasing isolation. He suffered from bouts of profound despondency and an incapacity to connect with the world outside, which only pushed him away from Sonia. Moreover, his sense of alienation and mistrust of modern society did not help him to keep a long-term loving relationship together.

Sonia persevered over these obstacles, determined to stick it out for Lovecraft. Eventually, the pressure of their situation drove them apart. 1929 was also the formal end of their relationship in Providence with Sonia moving to New York. Despite their fondness and mutual respect, the marriage could not survive the pressures of financial struggle and Lovecraft’s emotional withdrawal.

Aftermath and Legacy

Lovecraft had trenched on the fortifications that were built over time in their initial decade of marriage as they followed their respective literatures after the separation, but he no longer refers to Sonia as his beloved wife and we can assume things were simmering down between them. Lovecraft was not only in declining health but also spiraled into depression after the separation. He wrote extensively, but the damage to his health continued and he never truly overcame his financial and personal misfortunes.

Sonia Greene herself remained an important player in weird fiction and continued to write and sell stories to the pulps for a number of years after her split with Lovecraft. She was also very proactive in having his work promoted and also preserved posthumously after he passed away in 1937. Sonia survived a few more decades, but her story wouldn't be complete without knowing about her Lovecraft years.

The saga of Lovecraft and Sonia has come to embody the love-hate dynamic of that most fraught avenue in his personal life. Though he usually saw his romance as something less than a literary pursuit, in her case Sarah Susan Phillips was the rare woman who influenced and sustained him. Despite its many troubles, their marriage belied the notion of Lovecraft being an isolated creature — though a solitary soul at heart he could engage in deep intellectual and emotional intimacy.

The tale of H.P. Lovecraft and Sarah Susan Phillips (Sonia H. Greene) shows how even the strangest, most alien-seeming person has a life full of human pain and joy and success and failure behind them. They were intellectual partners who found themselves in a financially-challenging relationship that soon grew emotionally unstuck, one whose balance was unsustainable -- but they bore the mark of each other. Sonia H. Davis' relationship with Lovecraft was brief but integral to his personal life and artistic career. The correspondence and experiences they shared demonstrates that even when alone in your writer mind, there is always the possibility of being connected to another person, emotionally or intellectually.

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