Americans in fiction

Wrote Carl Smith: "The Cliff-Dwellers is a master work of Chicago and American urban realism. Henry Blake Fuller had no equal in understanding the complex human dynamics of the transformations that accompanied the creation of modern city life, including the vague but vivid hopes these changes inspired and the confusion and disappointments they inflicted. The novel is a brilliant realization of the social life and mentality of this place and time." Another reviewer noted: "Henry Blake Fuller's depiction of social climbing and human depravity among the 'cliff-dwelling' residents and workers in the new Chicago skyscrapers shocked readers of the time, and influenced many American writers that followed. With its frenetic pace and many interrelated stories, it remains a compelling document of Chicago's social history, as well as a searing indictment of modern American life at the close of the nineteenth century."

"Bricks Without Straw is Tourgée's fictionalized account of how Reconstruction was sabotaged. It is a chilling picture of violence against African Americans condoned, civil rights abrogated, constitutional amendments subverted, and electoral fraud institutionalized. Its plot revolves around a group of North Carolina freedpeople who strive to build new lives for themselves by buying land, marketing their own crops, setting up a church and school, and voting for politicians sympathetic to their interests, until Klan terrorism and the ascendancy of a white supremacist government reduce them to neo-slavery"--Dukeupress

"The rural tranquillity of the lonely, pine-girthed shores of the Maine coast is the setting for this novel of conflicting aspirations written by one of the most prolific and influential writers in American history. Here is the story of a young girl's struggle to belong and fit in, in the face of adversity, and of her upbringing among strong women, grumpy fishermen, annoying gossips, sea captains, and the dreamlike, tempestuous landscape of Orr's Island. The Pearl of Orr's Island is one of the forgotten - but not lost - masterpieces of American literature. It reflects Harriet Beecher Stowe's awareness of the complexity of small-town society, her commitment to realism, and her fluency in the local language."--BOOK JACKET.

A novel and a short story depict the efforts of women factory workers in the 1860s to overcome the harsh conditions of their lives.

"Considered a "regionalist" writer, like Kate Chopin and fellow New Englander Sarah Orne Jewett, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman spent almost half a century living in New England. A prolific and renowned writer, she had to deal with a new aspect of popularity: celebrity.". "This collection shows Freeman's many modes - romantic, gothic, and psychologically symbolic - as well as her use of pathos and sentimentality, dry reserve, and humor, satire, and irony. These last are most vividly expressed in The Jamesons, sketches of village life published here for the first time since the turn of the century. Other stories center on questions of women's integrity, courage, and, often, privation; explore cultural constructions of masculinity; and dramatize the interconnection of rural New England with modern culture and commerce."--BOOK JACKET.

"Gabriel Tolliver" by Joel Chandler Harris, bound sections from the journal "The Era", pages 37-47; 175-191; 282-298; 428-444; 533-547; 674-690; 65-77; 170-184; 275-288; 378-393; 503-518.

The Conjure Woman is a collection of fantastical stories narrated by Julius, a former slave, about life on the nearby plantations prior to the Civil War. Each involves an element of magic, be it a vine that dooms those who eat from it or a man transformed into a tree to avoid being separated from his wife. Julius’s audience, a married couple who have just moved to the South to cultivate grapes, listen on with mixed sympathy and disbelief. They disagree on whether Julius is telling the truth and whether there is some deeper significance to the tales. At turns humorous and unsettling, these stories provide a surprising lens into the realities of slavery. The text is notable for spelling out Julius’s spoken accent. Although Julius has some stereotypical features of a simple-minded old slave, he is often regarded as a more clever and complicated figure. He seems to tell his tales not only to entertain his listeners, but to trick them to his advantage. Many of these stories first appeared in national magazines, where they received popular acclaim, before being assembled as their own volume in 1899. Charles W. Chesnutt’s race was not mentioned by the publisher, nor could many guess his African heritage based on his appearance. However, Chesnutt embraced his African-American identity and was a prominent activist for black rights. The Conjure Woman, his first book, is considered an important early work of African-American fiction. This edition includes four additional Julius tales that appeared in magazines but were not collected during Chesnutt’s lifetime.