Reading the American Novel 1780-1865 provides valuable insights into the evolution and diversity of fictional genres produced in the United States from the late 18th century until the Civil War, and helps introductory students to interpret and understand the fiction from this popular period. Offers an overview of early fictional genres and introduces ways to interpret them today Features in depth examinations of specific novels Explores the social and historical contexts of the time to help the readers understanding of the stories Explores questions of identity - about the novel, its 19th-century readers, and the emerging structure of the United States - as an important backdrop to understanding American fiction Profiles the major authors, including Louisa May Alcott, Charles Brockden Brown, James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe, alongside less familiar writers such as Fanny Fern, Caroline Kirkland, George Lippard, Catharine Sedgwick, and E. D. E. N. Southworth Selected by Choice as a 2013 Outstanding Academic Title

Reading the American Novel 1780-1865 provides valuableinsights into the evolution and diversity of fictional genresproduced in the United States from the late 18th century until theCivil War, and helps introductory students to interpret andunderstand the fiction from this popular period.* Offers an overview of early fictional genres and introducesways to interpret them today* Features in depth examinations of specific novels* Explores the social and historical contexts of the time to helpthe readers' understanding of the stories* Explores questions of identity - about the novel, its19th-century readers, and the emerging structure of the UnitedStates - as an important backdrop to understanding Americanfiction* Profiles the major authors, including Louisa May AlcottCharles Brockden Brown, James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel HawthorneHerman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe, alongside less familiarwriters such as Fanny Fern, Caroline Kirkland, George LippardCatharine Sedgwick, and E. D. E. N. Southworth* Selected by Choice as a 2013 Outstanding Academic Title

Preface viiAcknowledgments xv1 Introduction to the American Novel: From Charles BrockdenBrown's Gothic Novels to Caroline Kirkland's Wilderness 12 Historical Codes in Literary Analysis: The Writing Projects ofNathaniel Hawthorne, Elizabeth Stoddard, and Hannah Crafts 233 Women, Blood, and Contract: Land Claims in Lydia Maria ChildCatharine Sedgwick, and James Fenimore Cooper 454 Black Rivers, Red Letters, and White Whales: Mobility andDesire in Catharine Williams, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and HermanMelville 675 Promoting the Nation in James Fenimore Cooper and HarrietBeecher Stowe 916 Women's Worlds in the Nineteenth-Century Novel: Susan B.Warner, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Fanny Fern, E. D. E. N.Southworth, Harriet Wilson, and Louisa May Alcott 119Afterword 151Further Reading 165Index 171