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Clotel or The President's Daughter
By William Wells Brown. 2004
The first novel by an African-American, this dramatic tale revolves around the fate of a child fathered by Thomas Jefferson…
with one of his slaves. Although born into slavery, author William Wells Brown escaped bondage to become a prominent reformer and historian. His emotionally powerful depiction of slavery and racial conflict in the antebellum South resounds with the immediacy and honesty of his own experiences. Brown weaves a variety of contemporary sources -- sermons, lectures, political pamphlets, and newspaper advertisements -- into this innovative work, which appears here in an unabridged republication of the 1853 first edition.The Life of a Racehorse
By John Mills. 1865
The Life of a Racehorse is a fictional biography detailing the life of a British racehorse from the horse's point…
of view. This book was republished by Cosimo in 2015 in honor of American race horsing, which got a shot in the arms when American Pharaoh became the first horse to win the "Grand Slam" of American horse racing (the Triple Crown, for the first time since 1978, and the Breeders' Cup Classic.) In this book, the horse, Sheet Anchor, narrates his life, from his time as a colt, through his training and racing days, to his sale as a stud from Tattersall's and his retirement. The story is revealed through Sheet Anchor's experiences and the dialogue of the humans he interacts with, including trainers, grooms, jockeys, and his master, Sir Digby. The Life of a Racehorse was highlighted in a 2015 New York Times article bringing attention to the use of the riding crop; it was cited as one of the only references to how horses might feel about its use. As such, horse lovers and race enthusiasts alike can look to this book for better insight into how horse racing has developed over the ages.The Gates Ajar
By Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. 2019
For the first time in Penguin Classics, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's bestselling Civil War classicElizabeth Stuart Phelps's 1868 Reconstruction-era novel The…
Gates Ajar, in its portrait of inconsolable grief following the American Civil War, helped to shape enduring American ideas about heaven and demonstrated that for American women, the war didn't simply end at Appomattox. When Mary Cabot loses her beloved brother, Union soldier Royal, in the war, she feels as though she will never feel peace again until the arrival of her widowed aunt Winifred. Sharing the wisdom that has comforted her through her grief, Winifred offers Mary a groundbreaking view of the afterlife: a place of loving reunion with all those who were lost. As Winifred ministers to Mary, her vision of the afterlife circulates in the community and attracts local adherents who have similarly suffered losses in the war. Written with the intention of illuminating and bettering the lives of women after the war, The Gates Ajar is an empowering manifesto on conquering grief and a timeless manual for optimism.Uncle Tom's Cabin
By Harriet Beecher Stowe.
One of the most popular, influential, and controversial books written by an American, Uncle Tom's Cabin is a rich, panoramic…
novel passionately dramatizing why the whole of America is implicated in and responsible for slavery. It is the story of the slave Tom, who is devout and loyal and is sold and sent down South, where he endures brutal treatment at the hands of plantation owner Simon Legree. It is the exploration of society’s failures and the asking of a profound question: What is it to be a moral human being? And, moreover, it is the novel that helped move a nation to battle these injustices.The House of the Black Ring: A Romance of the Seven Mountains
By Fred Lewis Pattee, Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Joshua R. Brown. 2012
Fred Lewis Pattee, long regarded as the father of American literary study, also wrote fiction. Originally published in 1905 by…
Henry Holt, The House of the Black Ring was Pattee’s second novel—a local-color romance set in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania. The book’s plot is driven by family feud, forbidden love, and a touch of the supernatural. This new edition makes this novel accessible to new generations of modern-day readers. General readers will find in The House of the Black Ring a thriller that preserves details of rural life and language during the late nineteenth century. Scholars will read it as an expression of cultural anxiety and change in the decades after the Civil War. An introduction by poet and essayist Julia Spicher Kasdorf situates the novel within the context of social and literary history, as well as Pattee’s own biography, and provides a compelling argument for its importance, not only as a literary artifact or record of local customs, but also as a reflection of Pattee’s own story intertwined with the history of Penn State at the turn of the twentieth century. Joshua Brown draws on his expertise in Pennsylvania German ethno-linguistics to interpret the dialect writing and to give readers a clearer view of the customs and regionalisms depicted in the book.The House of the Black Ring: A Romance of the Seven Mountains
By Fred Lewis Pattee. 2012
Fred Lewis Pattee, long regarded as the father of American literary study, also wrote fiction. Originally published in 1905 by…
Henry Holt, The House of the Black Ring was Pattee’s second novel—a local-color romance set in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania. The book’s plot is driven by family feud, forbidden love, and a touch of the supernatural. This new edition makes this novel accessible to new generations of modern-day readers. General readers will find in The House of the Black Ring a thriller that preserves details of rural life and language during the late nineteenth century. Scholars will read it as an expression of cultural anxiety and change in the decades after the Civil War. An introduction by poet and essayist Julia Spicher Kasdorf situates the novel within the context of social and literary history, as well as Pattee’s own biography, and provides a compelling argument for its importance, not only as a literary artifact or record of local customs, but also as a reflection of Pattee’s own story intertwined with the history of Penn State at the turn of the twentieth century. Joshua Brown draws on his expertise in Pennsylvania German ethno-linguistics to interpret the dialect writing and to give readers a clearer view of the customs and regionalisms depicted in the book.